JONESBORO, Ark. – The ACU Wildcats are back in action tonight at 7 p.m. when they take on Arkansas State at First National Bank Arena on the ASU campus.
The game can be seen on the Red Wolves Digital Network or heard on 98.1 FM locally or worldwide at 98theticket.com.
The Wildcats are 1-0 on the season after opening the 2017-18 campaign last Friday night with an 86-68 victory over Randall at Moody Coliseum. Sophomore center Jalone Friday — a preseason first team All-Southland Conference selection — led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Jaren Lewis had 17 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double.
Junior guard Jaylen Franklin — a preseason second team All-Southland Conference pick — scored 12 points and handed out six assists, while graduate transfer guard Tevin Foster had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Arkansas State, meanwhile, is 0-1 after a 77-63 loss at Evansville last Friday. The Red Wolves are coached by Mike Balado, who spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville. He replaces Grant McCasland, who led the Red Wolves to a 20-12 record in 2016-17 – his only campaign in Jonesboro – before becoming the head coach at the University of North Texas last spring. McCasland was the head coach at ACU for a few weeks in the summer of 2011, but never coached a game for the Wildcats before leaving to become an assistant at Baylor where he served until his one-year stint at ASU.
The Wildcats will be back in Abilene for a 7 p.m. Thursday night game against Howard Payne before a big contest next Monday (Nov. 20) against Lipscomb at Moody Coliseum.
