Slow Start Against UNT Dooms Jags
The South Alabama men’s basketball team could not overcome a slow start early against North Texas to fall 66-56 in Denton, Texas on Saturday. The Jags would only make two of their first 19 field goal attempts with Augustine Rubit picking up two early fouls.
The Mean Green jumped out to a 26-7 lead early into the game and held onto that lead the remainder of the game. The loss drops the Jags to 8-8 on the season (5-3 SBC) while UNT improved to 7-11 overall (2-5 SBC).
The Jags shot a miserable 28.1% from the floor and a mere 51.7% from the free throw stripe. This was the Jags fourth consecutive loss to North Texas in Denton. It was also the Jags first loss on the road in Sun Belt play.
“We got off to a slow start and I thought Aug’s (Rubit) two early fouls certainly took our team out of rhythm,” interim coach Jeff Price said after the game. “When you shoot 28 percent from the field and you give up 17 points at the free throw line, it’s hard to win games on the road like that. Our team just needs to learn that when shots aren’t falling, you have to play both ends of the court.”
The Jags attempted a come back midway through the second half. They rallied from a 21-point deficit with a 21-6 run to get within six points with 1:55 left in the game. The Mean Green could only manage one field goal during the final 7:47 of the game. However they would stretch their lead back to 10 points on free throws. But a short run would put the Jags within six points again, 62-56, with 27.4 seconds left after Freddie Goldstein hit a three-pointer. Unfortunately that would be the last points by the Jags. The Mean green would continue making their free throws.
“This team will never die,” Price said. “They get it. They don’t miss shots on purpose. We won’t die and I thought we did a good job of showing character and fighting to get back in the game.”
“We just missed a lot of shots and we missed a lot of free throws,” Price said. “I think we missed eight points worth of free throws in the first half because some were frontends of one-and-ones. That’s enough for a whole game for sure.”
Rubit and Goldstein led the Jags in scoring with 12 points each. Rubit added a team-high nine rebounds to just miss another double-double. Mychal Ammons added 10 points off the bench.
The Jaguars will open a three game homestand beginning Thursday night when they host Louisiana-Monroe. Tip-off between the Jags and the Warhawks is set for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Jags Win Double Overtime Thriller In Lafayette
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team survived a double overtime thriller in Lafayette Louisiana to defeat the Ragin’ Cajuns Thursday night. The Jags record improves to 8-7 overall and 5-2 in Sun Belt play while Louisiana-Lafayette’s record drops to 6-12 overall for the season and 2-5 in Sun Belt play.
The Jaguars led by as many as 13 points in the second half but were forced to rally from a late deficit in order to force overtime against the Cajuns.
“It was a hard-fought win on the road,” coach Jeff Price said. “I thought our guys did a great job of being very resilient in what became a tough atmosphere as the game went on. We had our lapses but we drew things up well late in the game and got a great look from Mike in regulation that didn’t go down. With about three minutes to go in regulation things didn’t look real good for us and I thought our guys did a really nice job of fighting back.”
“Mychal had some huge plays—some steals and plays at the basket and that dunk at the end of the game,” Price said. “He just took it strong to the basket and buried it with two hands.”
Mychal Ammons drove the left baseline to throw down a two-handed dunk with 19.3 seconds left to put the Jags ahead 91-89. This gave Ammons his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
But ULL had a shot to win the game at the end. Shawn Long threw up a 3-pointer that went halfway down the basket before bouncing out as time expired to leave the Jags with the win.
Augustine Rubit had 26 points for the game, 21 of them after halftime, and nine rebounds lead the Jags in scoring and falling one short of extending his double-double streak. However Rubit did take over second place on the South Alabama all-time rebounding list. Dre Conner added 19 points in the game, 15 of them in the first half, before fouling out of the game for the first time this season. Antoine Allen added 19 points as well.
“I thought Aug did a really nice job late of understanding he had two or three guys on him and kicking the ball out. We just have to knock those shots down, regardless of who’s shooting them,” Price noted. “Aug just affects the game so much when you go in to him and he continues to get better at understanding he can make other guys better.”
ULL’s Elfrid Payton matched Rubit in scoring with 26 points with 22 of them coming after halftime. He also recorded seven assists and three steals. Bryant Mbamalu added 19 points, Long had 14 points and 14 rebounds in the game.
The Jags never trailed in the final period. Rubit and Allen combined for seven points to put the Jags up 89-84 early in the period. But ULL would resond with four unanswered points with Payton’s back-to-back layups. A period of almost two minutes would pass without either team scoring any points before Long hit the back end of two free throws to tie the game at 89 with 37.5 seconds left in the period. Ammons would get a two-handed slam with 19.3 seconds left for the final score.
In the second half of regulation, the Jags trailed by six points with 2:51 left in regulation after a three-pointer by Mbamalu. But Freddie Goldstein would answer with a three of his own on the subsequent possession to cut the lead in half. After a ULL free throw, Goldstein would nail another three with 1:42 left in regulation to pull the Jags within one point.
Both teams would trade free throws. Ammons would give the Jags a 74-73 lead with 34.3 seconds after a steal and a layup. ULL’s Payton would hit a free throw at the other end to tie the game. Ammons would miss a shot from the right baseline in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
“If there’s a guy you want shooting them, it’s him,” Price said about Goldstein shooting three’s. “He’s an experienced senior and he jumped up and made a couple.”
In the first overtime neither team would lead by more than two points. Allen would tie the game at 82 with 44.4 seconds remaining in the period which would send the game into the second overtime period.
The Jags will continue their two-game road swing at North Texas on Saturday. The Jags and the Mean Green are scheduled to tipoff at 7pm.
Jags Travel To Lafayette To Take On The Ragin’ Cajuns Tonight
The South Alabama Jaguar Men’s basketball team travels to Louisiana-Lafayette for a 7pm game tip-off with the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Cajun’s are in fourth place in the Western Division of the Sun Belt Conference with an overall record of 6-11 this season and 2-4 in Sun Belt play. While the Jags are currently tied with Western Kentucky for second place in the eastern division of the Sun Belt Conference. The Jags are 7-7 overall on the season and 4-2 in Sun Belt play
The game will feature the top two players in double-doubles in the Sun Belt. Augustine Rubit is on a career-long streak of six double-doubles and has nine overall this season. Rubit ranks eighth in Division I players overall in double-doubles. ULL’s Shawn Long has eight double-doubles on the season.
Mychal Ammons led the Jags in scoring with 15 points against MTSU last Saturday, which marked the first time in five games that Rubit did not lead the team in scoring. However he still ranks second in the conference with a 19.3 points per game average.
Aug has tallied double-digits in rebounds in seven consecutive games and 10 of his last 11 games. That streak has eclipsed his previous streak of five consecutive games during his freshman year. He is ninth in the nation in rebounding with 11.2 rebounds per game.
Rubit is five rebounds away from moving into second place and passing Ed Rains in rebounds at South Alabama. He has already moved into 12th place at South Alabama in career scoring with 1,078 points.
Ammons leads the Sun Belt in three-point accurancy. He is shooting 48.6% from behind the arc and went 3-of-6 against the Blue Raiders. Meanwhile Javier Carter extended his block streak to eight games with his two blocked shots against MTSU. He is third in the conference with an average of 2.2 blocks per game. Last season Carter came up one rebound short of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds while adding six blocks.
ULL’s Elfrid Payton leads the conference in assists with 5.2 per game and steals with 2.3 per game.
The Jags and the Ragin’ Cajuns tip-off at 7pm in Lafayette Louisiana this evening. The game will be carried on 105.5 WNSP.
Jags Late Rally Fall Short Against MTSU
A late rally by South Alabama falls short as the Jaguars fell to Middle Tennessee at home 60-56. The Blue Raiders held the Jaguars to 37 percent shooting for the game and held them scoreless over the final 1:41 of the game at the Mitchell Center.
The Jags fall back to 7-7 overall for the season and 4-2 in Sun Belt play. MTSU improves to 12-4 overall for the season and 4-1 in Sun Belt Play to move into first place in the Sun Belt Conference Eastern Division.
The Blue Raiders used a 17-3 run at the end of the first half and into the beginning of the second half to lead by as many as 15 points in the second half. They led by 11 points with 3:57 left in the game before the Jags rallied to get within two points in the final two minutes of the game.
“When you play a team that good, a unanimous pick to win your league, you have to play 40 minutes and we got 35,” interim head coach Jeff Price said. “You can’t play 35 with these guys, you have to play 40. You can’t compound mistakes with mistakes. I thought we made a couple of mistakes and got our head down and missed a couple of layups when we didn’t need to. We got down and we could have laid down and quit but we didn’t. We fought and we had our chances.”
The Jags led 27-23 with 1:22 left in the first half before a 6-1 run to end the half put them ahead 29-28 at halftime. The Blue Raiders would take that momentum into the second half as they opened with a 11-2 run, nine consecutive points, over a 3:36 time frame to take their largest lead of the game until that point 40-30.
“That was the key to the whole game,” Price said of the beginning of the second half. “We didn’t play the last minute of the last first half well either. We were up by maybe three and then we had a turnover and that last half court turnover and kind of broke our momentum a little bit. We went in down one. Instead we should have been up. And the first four minutes of the second half, you always tell your guys (about) the first five minutes and they just have to buy in. You can’t put your head down against a team this good, you just have to keep battling. Sometimes we just got a little mentally weak and we can’t do that.”
MTSU would stretch their lead out to 15 points in the second half on an 8-0. The Jags went through a stretch of nearly five minutes without a field goal, which included five missed layups.
“We just missed so many easy shots around the basket for a stretch there that would normally go in,” Price said. “For about four minutes it was like Arkansas State when layups wouldn’t go in by very good players. I mean Aug and Mike were missing them.”
The Jags comeback attempt began during the final four minutes when they were down by 11 points. Javier Carter got it started with a tip in and a blocked shot on the other end of the court. Rubit then made two free throws followed by Freddie Goldstein hitting a three-pointer to cut the lead down to four points at 58-54.
The Jaguar defense forced a missed shot and Antoine Allen would go almost the length of the court for a layup with 1:41 left in the game to cut the lead down to two points. However the Blue Raider defense would then force three missed shots and hold the Jags scoreless the rest of the way.
Augustine Rubit would miss a layup with 56 seconds left then MTSU would convert two free throws for the final score of 60-56. A final three-point attempt by Ammons would miss and a last second attempt from Allen would be blocked.
MTSU head coach Kermit Davis praised the Jaguars in his post-game press conference. “I’m so impressed with how South Alabama has competed. It’s shown up on all the tapes,” he said. “It looked like we’d built a good lead, but, against an experienced team, I have to give them credit. They were physical and made a bunch of plays. We were lucky to hang on there at the end.”
Ammons led all scorers with 15 points off the bend and added eight rebounds to fall short of a double-double. Although Augustine Rubit extended his double-double streak to six in a row with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Goldstein added 12 points and a team-high four assits. Javier Carter chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.
Xavier Roberson continues to serve his indefinite suspension for breaking unspecified team and athletic department rules.
Bruce Massey led MTSU with 12 points while Shawn Jones was the only other player in double-digits with 11 points.
The Jaguars travel to Lafayette, Louisiana to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns on Thursday. The game is set to tip-off at 7pm.
Jags Hold On To Defeat ULM 77-72
Augustine Rubit scored a career-high 32 points against Louisiana-Monroe. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
The South Alabama Jaguar Men’s basketball team held off a late surge by Louisiana-Monroe to notch a 77-72 Sun Belt win. It took a career night by junior Augustine Rubit to do it though. South Alabama moves into a tie for first place after the Western Kentucky loss to UALR. The Jags overall record improves to 7-6 on the season and 4-1 in Sun Belt play while ULM falls to 2-8 overall and 1-3 in Sun Belt play.
Rubit broke his career high in scoring with 32 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to get his fifth consecutive double-double and his 34th in his career. He only missed one shot from the floor and two from the foul line.
“He was outstanding,” said interim head coach Jeff Price about Rubit. “He was a dominant factor in the game. Their posts were undersized and had a hard time with him. I thought he did a nice job of sharing the ball and kicking it out. We got some nice looks outside because of him. He’s just been playing great lately. His effort’s been great, his attitude is good and he’s playing extremely well right now.”
This win came one game after a season low shooting performance by the Jags. They shot a season best 59.1% from the floor however they tied their season high of 25 turnovers which translated into 33 points for the Warhawks.
“Anytime you win on the road, it’s good,” Price continued. “We all know that road wins are hard to get and I’m obviously happy we were able to pull the game out. I thought the margin should have been greater. We hurt ourselves turning the ball over so much and we didn’t need to. We got a little too careless. We need to learn not to get too comfortable with the lead and let people back in the game. We have to play better down the stretch. I’ll look at the tape and see what I can do better to help us finish. We just didn’t finish the game real well.”
“Again, I need to look at the tape, but a lot of them were just unforced turnovers,” Price said about the turnovers. “It’s not like Monroe is a big pressure team. To our credit, we were trying to share the ball, but at times we were forcing it too much, trying to force it in to Aug, make a big play or thread a needle. We just have to understand the value of the basketball and how important it is. We’re not good enough to throw the ball away like that.”
The only other Jaguar to score in double digits was Dre Conner who had a season-best 12 points.
The Jags lead by as much as 17 points in the first half and led 71-59 with under three-and-a-half minutes left in the game. However the Warhawks would muster a 10-2 to get within four points of the Jaguars with 1:16 left in the game.
Conner would put back his own missed shot on the Jags next possession to extend their lead to six points. Rubit would add a free throw after the Warhawks would miss a three-point attempt.
However on the next ULM possession they would hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the game to cut the lead back down to four points. However freshman Barrington Stevens III would convert from the foul line the Jags would force a turnover before the final buzzer to preserve the win.
“We did what we had to do and that’s a good sign,” Price said of the ending. “In the last minute we did what we had to do to win the game and made our free throws down the stretch. We got some stops when we had to and got some big rebounds. We just got careless in the last three minutes of the game and I need to take a look at that and see what I can do to make us better in those situations, but we’ll move forward.”
Unlike the last game where the Jags got behind early and never lead, this time the Jags jumped out to a 23-6 lead and kept that lead for the entire game. Rubit scored nine of those 23 points and the team hit 10 of their first 15 shots.
“The biggest difference early was us defensively creating some offensive opportunities,” Price said. “We did a nice job of getting the ball inside and not taking some jump shots. I thought that was real important.”
The Jags return home to the Mitchell Center to host Middle Tennessee State on Saturday with tipoff set for 7:05pm. Middle Tennsee is 11-4 overall and 3-1 in Sun Belt play with a 3-2 record on the road.
Come out and support YOUR South Alabama Jaguars!
USA Men’s Basketball Take On ULM Tonight
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team travels to Louisiana-Monroe to take on the Warhawks tonight. This is the Jaguars first game of 2013 and the first road game under the direction of interim head coach Jeff Price.
The Jags come into this game after dropping their first Sun Belt Conference game of the season 63-54 to Arkansas State. The Warhawks are coming off of a last second victory over Florida Atlantic 65-64.
Despite the shooting woes of the last game, the Jags have proven that they are capable of scoring and they have shown that they can play defense. But can their defensive play be strong on a regular basis?
Lousiana-Monroe had a dismal 2011-2012 season. They are at a point in the season where either they improve on the season or they continue in the same direction as last. The win over FAU ended their three game losing streak. The Warhawks were outshot 54.8% to 43% however the Warhawks forced 20 turnovers and had 21 more shots that the Owls to stay alive in the game.
Augustine Rubit looks to continue adding to his career totals. Recently he broke the 1,000th point threshold to become the 14th Jaguar to do so. Then against ASU, he moved into 13th place on the school’s career scoring list. He is 12 points behind Henry Williams for 12th place on that same list. Rubit has already passed Williams on the career rebounding list to move into 4th place.
ULM ranks next to dead last, 344th out of 345, in free throw percentage by shooting 54.6%, 338th in scoring offense with an average of 56 points per game and 326th in turnovers with 17.1 per game average. Warhawks player Trent Mackey is the bright spot on the team. He averages 12.6 points per game, ranks 18th in the nation in 3-pt percentage (45.8%) and 19th in 3-pointers per game (3.0). Mackey had 11 points last season by converting three 3-pointers against the Jags.
South Alabama leads the overall series against ULM, but has lost two of the last three meetings with the last victory being an 88-86 win in Monroe last season. Freddie Goldstein tied his own school record of nine 3-pointers in a game as the Jags as a team hit 14 3-pointers.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm in Monroe, Louisiana with coverage being broadcast by 105.5FM WNSP with Lee Shirvanian calling the play by play.
Jags Suffer First SBC Loss To Arkansas State
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team sufferred their first setback in conference play with their 63-54 loss to Arkansas State Saturday night. The Jags shot a season low 27.4% for the game and never had the lead.
The loss evens the season record to 6-6 and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Arkansas State improves their overall record to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt.
The Jags could only muster four three-point field goals for the game despite putting it up 27 times (14.8%) while turning the ball over 17 times. However, the Red Wolves didn’t do much better by shooting 38.2% and tied for the second lowest by a Jaguar opponent this season. But the difference was that they shot 42.9% in the second half as opposed to the Jaguars 30%.
“You don’t have to look too hard to see what the main problem was,” said interim head coach Jeff Price. “We shot 27 percent from the field. Defensively I thought we were okay. Anytime you hold a team to 38 percent you’re doing pretty darn good. I thought we were good on that end we just didn’t do as good of a job in this game of manufacturing points.”
“We weren’t just not making shots outside,” Price continued. “Think about how many inside just rolled around in the rim and could have been three-point plays and they went out of the basket. It just seemed like there was a lid on it all night. It was just one of those nights. Again, I thought defensively we were good enough to win the game. It’s ironic that the two top scoring teams come in to the game and the score ends up 63-54, but we just have to keep plugging away.”
The Jaguar struggles began before the game even started as it was announced that starter Xavier Roberson had been suspended indefinitely for a violation of athletic department and team policies. Then the Jags began the game by missing their first seven shots and didn’t get on the scoreboard until 15:14 left in the first half.
The Red Wolves came into the game leading the conference in steals, turnover margin and turnovers forced per game. They forced the Jags into committing 12 first-half turnovers on six steals and converted them into nine points.
“We made too many turnovers in the first half,” Price said. “Twelve turnovers in the first half cost us. We just have to get better and that’s on me. I have to make us better and get us to understand better.”
Mychal Ammons picked up two early fouls forcing coach Price to keep him on the bench for a large portion of the first half. Then later in the first half, Ammons would pick up his third foul which put him on the bench for the remainder of the first half.
ASU would use a 10-2 run about midway through the second half to build a 50-37 lead but the Jags would get a run of their own to answer. The Jags would begin an 11-2 run by getting the first six points from the foul line before Ammons hit a jumper and Freddie Goldstein would make his only three-pointer of the game. That run would put the Jags within 52-48 with 5:22 left in the game.
The Red Wolves would answer with a three of their own on their next possession while the Jags would only make two field goals the rest of the game, both by Augustine Rubit. The Red Wolves would also go 5-of-7 from the foul line in the final 44 seconds of the game.
Rubit led all players with 20 points while adding 17 rebounds to earn his seventh double-double of the season and 33rd of his Jaguar career. The only other Jag to score in double-digits was Antoine Allen who got the start when Roberson was suspended. The next highest scorers were Ammons and Goldstein who both had five points.
The Red Wolves had two players with 15 points in the game, which were their only double-digit scorers as well.
Jaguar players had many open shots at the basket, but simply couldn’t make them. Rubit even missed an uncontested dunk in the game. Even free throws were iffy as the Jags went 16-of-23 (69.9 percent).
South Alabama’s interim head coach Jeff Price will have to find a way to help his team over their shooting woes. But he will have to do it without their second leading scorer in Roberson as it is unknown if his suspension will be short term or if it will be long term.
The Jags are back in action on January 3rd when they travel to Lousiana-Monroe for a 7:30pm tipoff.
Amid Coaching Turmoil USA Makes Statement In Conference With Win
Interim head coach Jeff Price | jaguarsmensbasketball.com
After the turmoil surrounding Ronnie Arrow’s sudden retirement the Jags rebounded behind the leadership of Coach Jeff Price to add another win to their 2-0 record in Conference play. But the way they played really stood out.
The team improved their shot selection and ball movement and even made great defensive stands when the Trojans of UALR made a charge at them and they had an answer.
UALR was the team on top of the Western Division of the Sun Belt Conference and the Jags handed them a 15 point defeat. Is South Alabama a team to reckon with this season? There was an argument to be made before Arrow’s retirment. But that argument had some if’s to it. If the Jaguars moved the ball around, if they were smarter about their shot selection, if they hustled on defense and if they played as a team.
The Jags sent a message that they will not allow the mid-season coaching change affect their goals this season. They want to win conference games, position themselves to win the conference tournament and earn their place in the NCAA Tournament. It may be too early to say that the team led by interim coach Jeff Price will continue to be a team to reckon with, but with the win they made their first statement in the affirmative over UALR.
Middle Tennessee State, the favorite to win the conference this season, will meet on January 5 at the Mitchell Center. This game should prove to be a clash of conference power. MTSU will have to take notice of the Jags if they continue to play like they did in Price’s first game.
Only time will tell how the team continues to develop and perform under Price’s leadership.
While the team performed well after being placed in a tough spot, so did Coach Price. He replaced a coach who he served as an assistant coach twice and both times at South Alabama.
Price told AL.com that UALR was his “scout game”. Meaning he was prepared the scouting report for then head coach Ronnie Arrow. “So I was pretty in tune, as was our staff, as to what they were doing,” Price said to AL.com. “I thought we just did a really nice job taking them out of their game. I think it can lift us. We’re sitting here 3-0 in the league now with another home game coming up and hopefully we’ll have a good break and come back ready to go.”
The next game is on Saturday, December 29 at the Mitchell Center when the Jags host Arkansas State. After a three day holiday, the team is expected to return to campus to begin preparing for an ASU team that is 6-5 overall and 0-2 in Conference play.
UALR Game Results: Barrington Stevens just wants to contribute to a winning team
South Alabama’s Barrington Stevens (4) looks for an open teammate as Tennessee State’s Jordan Cyphers (45) tries to block during the GSU Coaches vs Cancer Classic on Monday, November 19, 2012. Photo Credit: Jonathan Phillips | JTPhotography
Barrington Stevens is becoming the glue that holds his team together, something that has become increasingly true following Saturday’s 77-62 victory over Arkansas Little Rock.
The Texan freshman was South Alabama’s starting point guard for the second game in a row and responded with his best game as a Jaguar, scoring a career-high 17 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from behind the three-point line. He added one assist, block and rebound respectively.
More importantly, his team is now 2-0 in his last two starts, a trend he would like to see continue after Christmas when Sun Belt play really heats up with matches against Arkansas State, Louisiana Monroe and Middle Tennessee.
He’s a player that recognizes his role on the team doesn’t aspire to be leading scorer every game. He wants to take the shots that make the most sense and pass first to get his veteran teammates the bulk of the scoring opportunities.
Saturday’s scoring outburst appears to be an anomaly but something Stevens can do when called upon. In fact, he’s believes himself capable of performing several needs depending on what his coaches need most.
In high school, Stevens average 11.9 points and 3.1 assists as a senior at Allen High School in Allen, Tex. He also set the school record for assists in a single game (14) that season. He hopes to bring that kind of flexibility to the Mitchell Center t this season.
“I always try to be solid, not turn the ball over, and let the game come to me,” Stevens said. “We have people that can score and it’s really great to have those kinds of weapons around me so I can just feed off them.”
Remarkably, Stevens is just a freshman and the second youngest player on the team behind Viktor Juricek. But he’s not worried about age or his perception. He just wants to be recognized as a contributing member to his team and that will come with his continued hard work and effort.
“I just want to run the team and be seen as a good floor general,” Stevens said. “My job is to get my teammates in position to score as well as to break down the defense and get easy buckets for myself and others. If we do that and we get the win, that’s how I know that I’ve done my job. A good point guard is always measured by his winning percentage.”
Now Stevens is looking to return home to Allen, Texas as a humbled but breakout player. He’s going to rest up during the holidays and maintain momentum going against Arkansas State. Game day is set for Dec. 29 with tip-off set for 7:05 p.m.
Recap: Jeff Price era begins with 77-62 victory over West-leading Arkansas Little Rock
The Jeff Price era of South Alabama basketball is off to a good start, with the Jaguars defeating Arkansas Little Rock, 77-62 to take sole possession of first place in the overall Sun Belt Conference standings. While Western Kentucky is also undefeated in the SBC, they are 2-0 and playing outside of the league tonight against nationally-ranked Louisville.
It was an overall good day for Price who had just four days to prepare for the Trojans following the surprise retirement of former head coach Ronnie Arrow. Price had served as Arrow’s assistant from 1989-1993 and again for the last two years.
“I was obviously very pleased with our effort,” Price said. “I thought we came out with good energy after we got over that lull at the beginning of the game. I was really happy with the way we shared the ball. Our assist-to-turnover ratio was really good. We were really good defensively against a pretty good team. … Really pleased with the way we finished the game. I’m trying to get this team to have a little more killer instinct and to know how to put people away. Each time they got close we built it up and it ended up being 15.”
Down 15-13 roughly 10 minutes into the game, momentum had already started to shift from the Trojans to the Jaguars when USA unleashed a 16-0 run to take a 29-15 lead. In response, Little Rock head coach Steve Shields was forced to call a time out.
The Jaguars had raised the tempo from what had started out as stoic to hectic after the first five minutes, challenging shots and never giving up on second chance scoring opportunities. Not even the UALR time out could stop the momentum as the Jaguars maintained the frantic pace and ended the half with a 39-30 lead.
Little Rock got close on several occasions in the second half but could never take back the lead. The Trojans went on a 12-4 run halfway through the period but could only get as close as three points. The Jaguars eventually built on their lead and steadied it to around nine points for most of the game and ended left with a 15 point victory.
They did it using a balanced attack of consistent shooting, a positive assist-to-turnover ratio and while also forcing the young Little Rock team to turn over the ball 21 times. The total package resulted in a double-digit victory for the second time.
The only apparent flaw in South Alabama’s game was their struggles from the free throw line, which was limited to 17-of-28 attempts — a 60.7 percent clip.
The team appeared energized by the change in leadership and responded to Price by delivering their most-impressive victory since defeating nationally-ranked Florida State, 76-71 on Nov. 9. Stevens said the transition from Arrow to Price “wasn’t drastic” and added that his leadership led to the team playing “more loose.”
“Coach Price is a great coach,” Stevens added. “He lets us play and I feel like we got 100% from everyone who stepped in and played today. We tried to not think about the transition and focus on our progression to become a championship team.”
After defeating Arkansas Little Rock on Saturday, the Jaguars are one step closer. The Jaguars are the only 3-0 team in the conference and stand at 6-5 overall. The Trojans drop to 8-6 and 2-1 in the SBC.
The season will take just a short break for Christmas and will resume on Dec. 29 when Arkansas State visits the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Notables:
Augustine Rubit scored his 1,000 career point on Saturday, becoming just the 16th player in school history to accomplish the feat.
Jeff Price on talking to Ronnie Arrow before the game:
“It’s been, as you can imagine, quite a whirlwind the last few days and I have spoken with Ronnie and his spirits are good and he wished us luck. I’m sure I’ll talk to him again after the game. It’s interesting to see how everyone’s going to react. I think everyone’s just sitting and waiting to see how we would react and early in the game we were down 7-1 and it just took a little time.
“It was like hey, we better get going and time to move on. I thought once we reacted to that and moved on and got into the flow of the game it was good. You just learn in this business you just have to go on to the next chapter and move on. This game will make us realize that we can be a championship caliber team and just keep getting better.”