JONESBORO, Ark. -- Arkansas State outscored New Orleans 14-2 in the final 4:50 to escape with a 63-56 win on Thursday at the Convocation Center.
Brandon Reed scored 18 points -- 11 in the second half -- and Martavius Adams had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the Red Wolves (16-12, 11-6 Sun Belt Conference) swept the regular season series against UNO (8-20, 3-14).
ASU shot 75 percent from the field in the second half (15-of-20) to overcome a six-point halftime deficit. The Red Wolves made their final five shots of the game.
The Privateers got a big night from their bench, as
Jaroslav Tyrna scored a team-high 13 points while freshman
Quincy Diggs had a career-high 12. The duo combined to go 9-of-10 from the field.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the UNO starters struggled to shoot while fighting constant foul trouble. The Privateers saw their starters combine to shoot 11-of-42 from the field.
Guards
Charles Carmouche and
Devin McDonald each scored seven points. Carmouche fouled out, while McDonald was limited to just three minutes in the opening half due to two quick fouls.
"We struggled shooting the basketball -- especially in the second half," said UNO head coach
Joe Pasternack. "We competed so hard tonight, but we couldn't get scores when we had to and couldn't get stops when we had to. We had some guys step up, but we just fell a little short."
Despite the foul troubles, UNO still had a solid opening half. The Privateers held ASU to 37 percent shooting and held Adams -- one of the top post players in the league -- scoreless on just one shot.
Tyrna and Diggs combined for 11 points to help UNO grab a 29-23 lead at halftime.
The Privateers led 35-28 with 15:47 remaining before the Red Wolves cut the margin to one with 13:45 to play.
UNO managed to get the lead back up to 54-49 with 4:50 left after Diggs hit a pair of free throws.
But the Privateers did not score again after a Carmouche dunk with 2:40 to play. Reed's 3-pointer with 1:49 left gave ASU a lead it would never relinquish.
UNO will wrap up the regular season with a 7 p.m. matchup on Saturday at UALR.
