JONESBORO, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will play their final tuneup before Southland Conference play begins on Tuesday night against Arkansas State at the Convocation Center.

    UCA (1-8) will be playing its third in-state opponent in its last five games after a pair of games against the Little Rock Trojans. The Bears will open SLC play on Jan. 2 at home at the Farris Center against league-leader Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

    The Red Wolves, coached by John Brady, are 3-7 overall, with two of the victories over in-state schools. ASU beat NAIA Lyon College 81-37 on Nov. 16 and downed Division II Arkansas-Monticello 104-71 on Dec. 12. The Red Wolves are coming off a 74-70 loss at UT-Martin last Friday.

    ASU won the most recent meeting with the Bears, 67-49 last December in Conway. The Bears shot just 34 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from the free-throw line in that loss. Mike Martin led the Bears with 13 points, while Jordan Howard added 10. Anthony Livingston topped ASU with 20 points, while Cameron Golden added 14.

    UCA has dropped five consecutive games since a win over UTSA on Nov. 22. The Bears are led in scoring by Howard, a sophomore guard from Chandler, Ariz. Howard is averaging 15.6 points per game, ranking sixth in the SLC. He is also sixth in thre-point percentage, shooting 41.8 percent from beyond the arc and leading the league in three-pointers made at 3.1 per game.

    Junior guard Derreck Brooks is averaging 11.3 points and senior forward Justin Foreman is at 10.6. Brooks is fourth in the conference in blocked shots at 1.4 per game. 

    Junior guard Devin Carter leads the Red Wolves in scoring at 15.5 points per game, while Livingston, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound junior forward, is tops in rebounds at 8.8. ASU is averaging 42.2 rebounds per game, the most since the 1975-76 season. The Red Wolves open Sun Belt Conference play on Dec. 30 at Troy.

    Catch the Bears and Red Wolves on The Bear 91.3 and at ucasports.com/KUCA.