NEW ORLEANS—The longest road trip of the season is winding down as Alabama State has arrived in New Orleans to participate in the Tulane Classic. ASU will open the Classic playing Pepperdine University Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. ASU will play the University of Texas Pan American Thursday, Dec. 20, also at 4 p.m.
ASU and Pepperdine will be meeting for the first time and the Waves enter the game with a 7-3 record while ASU brings a 1-9 record into the Classic.
The Hornets continue to be led in scoring by Joshua Freelove (11.6), but has been in a scoring slump in the last three games, only scoring 14 total points in those outings.
It did not take long for
Shawntez Patterson to work his way into the starting lineup. He has played in the Hornets last five games and is averaging 10 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game.
Phillip Crawford is also back into the lineup and is averaging 9.4 points per game and is shooting 56 percent from the field.
Pepperdine has three players averaging in double digits led by Lorne Jackson's 15.4 points per game. Stacy Davis is scoring at a 10.9 points per game clip and Jordan Baker averages 10.3. Davis also leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 boards per game.
The Hornets offense stumped its toe in their last outing against Georgia Tech, but ASU's offense has started to show some signs of coming out of their early season slump. They team shooting percentage is now up to 40 percent, after being in the los 30's for most of the early season.
Their scoring average is up over 56 points per game. There are three distinct problems that have been consistent for ASU and that has been the team's free throw shooting, rebounds and turnovers.
Although the Hornets free throw shooting has risen to 52 percent, it is still far from where it needs to be. The team is being out rebounded 39.9 to 31.8 per game, which is over eight per game. The Hornets are also turning the ball over an average of 17 per game.
Like the game ASU had against Georgia Tech, the Hornets will go into the game out sized at almost every position. The Waves have three 6'-9” players and 6'-7” player and will also have a 7-footer on the floor.
Pepperdine averages 67 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field. They have already launched 180 three point attempts and have connected on 38 percent of those. They are out rebounding their opposition by over four per game and have forced 122 turnovers.
