JONESBORO, Ark. -- Deven Simms scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Arkansas State beat Abilene Christian 83-69 in its home opener on Monday night.
Ty Cockfield scored 18 points for the Red Wolves (1-1), who trailed briefly but used a 16-3 run sparked by Grantham Gillard's layup to build a 40-25 halftime lead. Gillard and Cockfield each scored 3s in the run.
The Wildcats closed to within five points seven minutes into the second half, but the Red Wolves again pulled away and led 76-57 with 3:42 to play after Simms' layup and a 3-pointer by Rashad Lindsey.