ASU will open the "second nine" at Mississippi Valley State Saturday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.  Following the game, the Hornets will travel to Arkansas where they will face the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Monday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
 
"We are coming off a win heading into the second part of our conference play," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "We have been in all of our games and we need to take the next step to turn those close losses into wins and get some momentum.  It will be nice to start that with these road games."
 
The Hornets (7-14/2-7) are coming off another close game, but this one was a win.  The 83-77 victory over Prairie View broke a five-game losing streak, but it did keep the Hornets run of close games intact.
 
Of ASU's nine SWAC contests, none have been any larger than seven points and eight of those have been by five points or less.  Among those games are three overtime games where ASU is 1-2.
 
The Hornets hosted Mississippi Valley State Jan. 9, and it was an offensive rebound and put back from Jamel Waters that lifted ASU to a 75-74 home court win.
 
Waters is one of the hottest players in the league right now.  Over the past five games he has averaged 21 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field, 48 percent from beyond the three point line and 78 percent from the charity stripe.  During this current stretch he also has 24 assists, 24 rebounds and nine steals.  He is listed among the top nine players in eight different statistical categories the SWAC keeps and is among the top 20 in two others.
 
MVSU (4-19/4-5) has Marcus Romain leading the team averaging 15.9 points per game.  He is the second leading scorer in the conference just percentage points ahead of Waters who is averaging 15.7.
 
The Delta Devils also have Isaac Williams averaging in double-digits at 11.7 points per game and Damian Young averages 10.2.
 
Monday's action at UAPB (5-18/3-6) will bring a stark contrast in playing styles as the Golden Lions will look to slow down the pace as they did in their 59-55 win over ASU back on Jan. 11.  The Hornets, on the other hand, will look to push the ball down the court and beat the defense back down the court.
 
UAPB's offense is scoring at a 54.8 points per game clip and defensively the opponents are averaging 72.8.
 
Ghiavonni Robinson and JoVaughn Love are UAPB's leading scorers.  Robinson at 10.9 points per game is the lone double-digit scorer and Love is averaging 9.8.
 
Both games can be heard over the ASU Hornets Sports Network at bamastatesports.com.  Check Game Day Central for all your information needs the day of each game.