Action Jackson

Arkansas Coach Matt Daniel and his team were headed for the airport for the first time in more than two years Tuesday morning as they’ll visit Utah State (4-3) tonight. It’ll be the Red Wolves’ fifth game away from Jonesboro this season — going 1-3 on the road thus far.

As has been the case much of the season, ASU (4-5) will lean on forward Trinitee Jackson, who has emerged as a dominant force in the paint this season. The Dallas native is averaging teams highs of 12.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

Some of that is the result of playing more. Jackson is at a career-best 21.0 minutes per game through nine games after averaging 6.8 minutes two years ago and 15.4 last season.

“That’s a credit to her and her mentality and what’s she’s doing discipline-wise with her body,” Daniel said of Jackson’s increased workload. “She’s playing with great poise and patience in the post, reading double teams as she’s starting to get doubled.”

In the Red Wolves’ home loss to Northwestern (La.) State last week, Jackson posted her fourth doubledouble of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

But ASU can’t solely rely on their post presence. The Red Wolves have continued to rotate at the guard position, and Daniel said he’ll have three freshmen in his backcourt with Lauryn Pendleton, Jade Upshaw and Mailyn Wilkerson among his starting five against the Aggies.

“We’re really, really young,” Daniel said. “We’ve got good talent. You can look at our numbers and our balance and see that. But we’re still trying to build culture — some things you think you’re past and you’re not. We’re almost through that, but culture is always evolving.”