Fields leads Red Wolves to third-straight victory
Caleb Fields is not one to rest on individual laurels.
However, the fifth-year senior guard had the best performance of his career Thursday night to lead the Arkansas State men’s basketball team to its third consecutive win – an 85-82 triumph over Texas State inside First National Bank Arena.
Fields dropped a career-high 35 points with 10 assists and six steals, the final one sealing the win for the Red Wolves (7-9, 3-1 SBC). His second straight double-double made him just the second Division-I player since 2010 to achieve such a stat line, and also moved up the career charts in the win over the Bobcats (6-10, 0-4).
He moved up to No. 2 in program history in career dimes, passing the great Carl Archer, while also jumping to second in career free throws made, going 16-for-20 on the night – both matching arena records by A-State players.
“To have a chance to win the Sun Belt, you’ve got to take care of business at home,” head coach Bryan Hodgson said. “(Texas State) did a good job of taking us out of what we wanted to do on offense and beat us up on the glass in the first half. They were the aggressor, but we spent a lot of time at the half talking about changing that … I’m really thrilled we were able to gut out a win. Part of maturity for us is being able to win a close ballgame.”
As evidenced by the 10 assists, Fields was not alone in the winning effort. Dyondre Dominguez scored 16 points, while Izaiyah Nelson notched his first career double-double with 12 points (all in the second half) and 11 boards. Derrian Ford was the fourth Red Wolf in double figures with 11 points.
A-State, which trailed by one at the half, shot a season-high 58.3 percent (28-48) from the field and went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from the perimeter, while hitting 21 of 31 attempts at the foul line (67.7 percent). Twenty of those 28 made buckets were assisted. Defensively, the Red Wolves forced 12 turnovers, resulting in 17 points.
Texas State won the rebounding battle 33-25, but the Scarlet and Black edged the Bobcats on the glass in the second half, 15-14. TXST also shot over 50 percent from the field, hitting at a 51.7-percent clip.
Both sides shot over 54 percent through the first 20 minutes, with the Red Wolves hitting at a 56.5-percent mark. Fields dropped 17 of his 35 points, while Texas State’s Brandon Love registered 19 points with six rebounds. Love, however, was shut down offensively in the second half and grabbed just one board.
Neither team led by more than four points in the half, but A-State was held to without a field goal for the final 6:53 to trail 39-38 at the break.
The Red Wolves surged out of intermission with a 15-4 run to take a double-digit lead, with Fields either driving to the rim or scoring at the charity stripe. He was 4-for-7 from the field in the final 20 minutes and went 9-for-10 at the line.
Texas State rallied to within two scores before making it an 83-82 contest with 15 seconds remaining on a trey by Dylan Dawson, who scored 16 points. Fields and Nelson converted at the line to close A-State’s scoring, but Fields forced Love into a turnover in the final seconds to clinch the victory.
NEXT UP
Arkansas State concludes its four-game home stand at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Louisiana inside First National Bank Arena.
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