Photo by EMILIANO CEBALLOS

Junior guard #0 Caleb Fields going up for a layup.

The Red Wolves forced overtime, but could not finish as they dropped seven straight games. 

Even though Arkansas State University lost, it was likely to happen. Marshall University is one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference, and it shows with their now 17-4 record. 

Before the game, the Thundering Herd had an 89.2% chance of winning according to ESPN Analytics. They also have an NBA prospect on their team, senior guard #24 Taevion Kinsey. 

Kinsey is a playmaker who can get the job done when needed most. He is averaging 21.2 points per game for 14th best in the nation.

“Obviously Kinsey is an excellent player. I do not know what else you can do to guard him. He rolls over everybody and he is going to play in the NBA,” Head Coach Mike Balado said. 

In the first half, the Red Wolves were down 31-23. They were 9-28 (32.1%) from field-goal range, 3-13 (23.1%) from three-point range and 2-2 from free-throws. They also outrebounded Marshall with 20 compared to their 15. Senior guard #1 Markise Davis led the team with 10 points and two three-pointers. 

This past Saturday, Marshall was 11-28 (39.3%) from field-goal range, 4-8 (50%) from three-point range and 5-6 (83.3%) from free-throws. Junior guard #0 Andrew Taylor led the Thundering Herd with 14 points and shooting 5-9 from field-goal range. 

The second half shooting was a lot better for the Red Wolves with 54.5% from field-goal range, 46.2% from three-point range and 75% from free-throws. 

Sophomore guard #2 Avery Felts finished the game with a team-leading 18 points, while junior guard #0 Caleb Fields had 17 points. They both played the majority of the game as Fields played 41 minutes and Felts played 36.

Marshall was 48.4% from field-goal range, 50% from three-point range and 77.8% from free-throws in the second half. 

Kinsey is such a great player that he only played 28 minutes and 23 points. Taylor finished with a team-leading 27 points. 

Arkansas State was able to fight all game long even with the absence of first-year guard Terrance Ford Jr., due to a bone bruise. The biggest issue for this team remains to be the injuries and not any bench players to rotate in to give starters rest. Only eight scholarship players played in this game. 

Another issue is trying to get their big guys playing more consistently. It is hard to win games without a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds. 

“We need Omar (El-Sheikh) playing more consistently. He is not playing consistently right now, and we need to get him back to the way he was playing in late December,” Balado said. 

Overtime was a lot different for A-State compared to the final minutes in regulation. With eight seconds left in regulation, sophomore forward #23 Julian Lual had a steal that set up Fields making a layup to force overtime. They were not able to get the stops and defensive rebounds that they needed in overtime.

“In overtime, whoever scores first will get the momentum early. We have to work on getting those stops on contested shots,” Fields said.

As mentioned previously, the Red Wolves fought the entire game. That is the biggest positive for this team. 

“If we can bring it like that every single game, we have a chance to win everytime. If we can do it against those guys (Marshall), we can do it against anybody,” Felts said. 

A-State has back-to-back road games against Southern Miss on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saturday against Appalachian State University at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be held on ESPN+.

Southern Miss is 17-4 on the season and has a 94.3% chance of beating the Red Wolves according to ESPN Analytics. They average 75.6 points per game and 38.5 rebounds. The Golden Eagles also have three players averaging double-digit points. Junior guard #1 Austin Crowley, senior forward #22 Felipe Haase and senior forward #5 Deandre Pinckney are among the few. 

To beat Southern Miss, A-State will have to continue their approach of aggressive defense that allows them to stay competitive with these juggernaut squads.

“We are going to continue the aggressive defense. We are going to trust ourselves more on the ball than having so much gap help. It allows us to pick the speed up more,” Balado said. 

Then, the Saturday game against Appalachian State will be another difficult one. The Mountaineers are 11-10 and are projected to beat Arkansas State with a 90.3% chance according to ESPN Analytics. They are averaging 73.5 points per game and 36.5 rebounds. 

Once again, the Red Wolves game plan will be their aggressive defensive approach along with being able to rotate players off the bench to get fresh legs for the starters who get tired throughout the game. 

Both Southern Miss and Appalachian State have the winning formula, so A-State has a tough road ahead. 

The Red Wolves have 10 games left to turn their season around.

Categories: Sports