Jaguar Basketball Opens SBC Play Against Arkansas State Tonight
The South Alabama Mens Basketball team begin their conference schedule tonight when they host Arkansas State for a 7:05pm tip at the Mitchell Center. The Jags (2-8) look to snap their five-game losing streak and start their SBC schedule off on the right foot.
The Red Wolves (5-4) enter the game with a three-game winning streak that began with a road win against Mississippi State on December 17 in Starkville.
Arkansas State is led by the trio: Anthony Livingston, Cameron Golden and Sean Gardner. All three rank in the league’s top nine in scoring, the only school in the conference to have three players in that group. Livingston is fourth in the conference with an average of 16.4 points pr game and second in rebounding with 8.4 per game. Livingston also had a 20-point, 20-rebound game against Marshall on December 20.
Golden is eighth in the conference in scoring with a average of 15.3 points per game with Gardner right behind him in ninth place with a 14.9 point per game average. Gardner has scored 20-point or more in his last three outings while ranking third in the conference with an average of 2.7 3-pointers per game.
Jaguar freshman Taishaun Johnson is averaging 17.5 points in both of his last two outings. He led the team scoring against Howard with a career-high three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the free-throw line while also recording a personal-best four steals.
South Alabama is only averaging 62.8 points per game while the Red Wolves are averaging 68.2 points per game themselves.
After a tough non-conference schedule, USA head coach Matthew Graves hopes his team can finally find their rhythm and start conference play with a win. Only the top eight teams will go to New Orleans for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament this season and South Alabama wants to be one of those teams.