Photo by Allie Carson | Staff Writer

Tuesday, the Red Wolves basketball team hosted rivals Little Rock Trojans, who they beat 80-63. The Trojans entered the game picked as the favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference, and had even received some preseason votes for the Associated Press Top 25.

The Trojans started off with the lead, getting three points from free throws before the Red Wolves could even score. 

“I thought it was a kind of choppy game.” head coach Brian Hodgson said, “We didn’t do a great job against their zone. We struggled with that early on and obviously missed some free throws in the first half, turned the ball over a few times in the first half, we had a problem guarding the post early on.” 

Photo by Allie Carson | Staff Writer

During the first half, the Red Wolves and the Trojans would swap leads and be tied three times, the biggest lead belonging to the Red Wolves who led by six with two minutes left in the half. 

A-State made four out of 17 three pointers and seven of their 12 free throws were made during the first half. 

Rebounds helped the Red Wolves secure the game. A-State excelled in this department, grabbing a combined 20 offensive rebounds, and another 42 defensive rebounds. The Trojans got just 9 OREBs, and 26 DREBs.

The Red Wolves stayed ahead in the second half, leading by 17 at the end of the game.

The Red Wolves were 13-31 for field goals, 9-22 for three-pointers and 12-18 for free throws in the second half. 

Photo by Allie Carson | Staff Writer

Taryn Todd led the team in points, with 17 total. He made six out of 15 field goals, three of six three-pointers and two of six free throws. Forward Kobe Julien was right behind Todd with 16 points, and a whopping six steals in the game, five of which came in the first half of play.. 

Julien was also the most consistent on the team with making free throws, making 10 of his twelve. Julien’s performance led him to receive the Hard Hat Player Award for the game.

“He played his butt off,” Hodgson said. 

Forward Rashad Marshall was right behind Julien with a 19 plus/minus for the night with 11 rebounds and four offensive rebounds, all while taking zero shots. 

Forward Izaiyah Nelson, who’s foot has been injured, has a chance to be eased back into games for Saturday’s game against Stephen F. Austin.

“If not, we’ll just continue to go day by day. That’s something that will evaluate with our medical staff after practice each day, how he’s handling the load, and just take it from there,” Coach Hodgson said.

First National Bank Arena got another high attendance for the game against Little Rock, as the Red Wolves played in front of 5,187 people, the largest crowd at The Bank in the last five years. That game five years ago? It was also against Little Rock.

“I’m thrilled with our fan base. The support we get here is phenomenal. We’ve got a great basketball atmosphere here,” Hodgson said, “We encourage people to continue to come. I know our guys feed off of that. It means a lot to us.”

The Red Wolves go against the SFA Lumberjacks at First National Bank arena on Saturday with a 2:00 tipoff. 

Categories: Sports