NEW ORLEANS — He had a fresh haircut, and his players’ jerseys were black and red.But the man sitting in the second seat of the Arkansas State bench at the New Orleans Lakefront Arena on Thursday night was unmistakable to LSU men’s basketball fans.A small crowd watched coach John Brady’s return to Louisiana after being fired by LSU just more than a year ago.The Red Wolves’ 73-63 loss to New Orleans was Brady’s second trip back to Louisiana in less than a week. Arkansas State lost, 54-50, at Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.”It’s like being anywhere I’ve ever coached,” he said. “I don’t really want to go into that. It has no bearing — I coach at Arkansas State now, and I’m trying to do the best I can. I like it there. They like me for now, so that’s kind of it.”Less than a minute into action against UNO (11-16, 6-10), Brady was nervously rubbing his hands together and barking directions to his players. He was out of his seat and pacing the bench by the five-minute mark.The Red Wolves trailed, 39-30, at halftime, but a quick six points after the break cut the lead to 39-36 and briefly changed Brady’s attitude — he and his associate head coach, Chad Dollar, stood and applauded loudly.Brady was up and yelling after a 12-3 UNO run, stomping his feet on the playing floor.Dollar, who assisted Brady and interim coach Butch Pierre at LSU last season, even joined in at times, yelling from his seat between Brady’s and the scorers’ table.”It’s been tough the last couple games here, but we’re just trying to build this program up … and that takes time,” Dollar said. “It’s always frustrating when you’ve lost a few games in a row.”Arkansas State battled UNO late into the game, trimming the lead to as little as four points with less than a minute to play before the Privateers pulled away following a Bryant technical foul.The Red Wolves have struggled through several close losses in a recent 1-7 month-long stretch of games decided by an average of just more than four points.Meanwhile, Brady’s former team has built a three-game lead in the Southeastern Conference standings.”I haven’t had a chance to keep in contact with any [LSU players] just because of NCAA rules,” Dollar said. “I’m happy for the success they’ve had, and I wish those guys the very best.”- – – -Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]