The Alabama State men's basketball team has been practicing this week in preparation for their upcoming game against Western Illinois Monday Dec. 16.

The Leathernecks play in the Summit League and will come to Montgomery sporting a 4-4 record. It will be the first meeting between the two teams when they face off in the Acadome at 7 p.m.

The two teams mirror each other in early season action. The Hornets started off the season dropping their first two games and have since won three of their last four to enter the game 3-3. WIU lost four of its first five games, but enters Monday night's contest winners of their past three games to even their record.

ASU lost 85-69 in their last outing at Troy so this week's practices have seen a lot of emphasis placed on their defense.

"Having 20 days between games was hard on us, especially when we were starting to show some improvement," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said. "With that being said we still gave up way too many points against Troy. They were able to break us down in our man defense and we were slow in our zone defense covering their shooters."

"This week we are using a lot of practice time to get back to playing better on defense. We have been known as a solid defensive team and we have a long way to go to get there."

The Hornets' coaching staff announced a time change for ASU's opening round game at the Tulane Westin Holiday Classic. ASU opens the tournament against host Tulane and the game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. The start time has been moved up to a noon start for the Dec. 21 game due to Tulane's participation in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl later that evening.

ASU is scheduled to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 3 p.m. on the second day of the tournament, Dec. 22. That game time has not been changed.