Cold shooting sinks A-State in loss

Red Wolves fall to South Alabama 63-45 at home

From Arkansas State University

astateredwolves.com

ONESBORO — Arkansas State’s struggles at the Mitchell Center continued Thursday night.

The Red Wolves have lost seven consecutive men’s basketball games on South Alabama’s home court with Thursday’s 63-45 setback against the Jaguars.

ASU (9-7, 1-2 Sun Belt) shot a season-low 27.6 percent from the field. The Red Wolves’ point total was their lowest in a Sun Belt Conference game since a 74-43 loss at Georgia State on Jan. 31, 2015, and was their lowest overall since a 71-43 loss at Ole Miss on Nov. 8, 2019.

Forward Omar El-Sheikh and guard Avery Felts shot a combined 12-of-23 from the field to lead ASU with 18 and 14 points, respectively.

The remainder of the Red Wolves shot a combined 4of-35 from the field as ASU finished with a season- low 16 field goals.

El-Sheikh grabbed a gamehigh 13 rebounds to finish with his fourth consecutive double-double and sixth of the season. ASU held a 3935 advantage on the boards and scored 14 secondchance points, but was outscored 36-18 in the paint.

A-State’s leading scorer, junior guard Caleb Fields, was limited to just two points, but became the fourth player in school history to record at least 400 career assists.

South Alabama (7-8, 1-2 Sun Belt) put the first eight points on the scoreboard before Arkansas State responded with a 15-4 run to take a 15-12 lead midway through the opening half. However, the Red Wolves were able to connect on only one of their final 13 shots in the first half and went into the break trailing 29-18.

A-State couldn’t find the mark on its first three shots of the second half as well, while South Alabama connected its first two field goal attempts to extend its advantage to 33-18. Still trailing by 15 points, 3823, with 15:25 remaining, the Red Wolves scored the next four points to pull within 11, but couldn’t get any closer.

South Alabama, which shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 44.2 percent for the game, eventually led by as many as 23 points.

The Jaguars were led by three players scoring in double figures, including guard Isaiah Moore with a game-high 20 points.

Kevin Samuel added a double- double for the Jaguars, posting 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Arkansas State returns to action today with a 4 p.m. game at Troy (10-6, 2-1 Sun Belt). The Trojans have won their last two games, defeating Texas State 55-52 and Old Dominion 78-71.

Five of the last seven meetings in the series have been played on Troy’s home court, including last season’s meeting that the Trojans won 79-77.

Photo courtesy of the Arkansas State Red Wolves