Coaches, Players Surprised By Arrow’s Sudden Retirment
Interim head coach Jeff Price | jaguarsmensbasketball.com
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team spoke about Wednesday’s sudden announcement of head coach Ronnie Arrow’s retirement on Thursday. Instead of Wednesday being a normal day, it would be anything but that.
Players said that Coach Arrow walked in, called his players together, informed them that he had decided to retire effective immediately then made a quick trip around the room shaking hands with each player before he left.
The players were shocked.
“I was shocked because we just came off a win (over Arrow’s former school Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where he returned for his second stint as USA’s head coach),” Augustine Rubit said Thursday to AL.com. “And we were just looking forward to getting better and bringing more wins for him in the conference. It was just surprising that it happened all of a sudden.”
“We were all shocked,” he continued. “Going through the year, you knew you had coach Arrow as the head coach. That’s all you expect. I know we have some really good coaches who are stepping in. In some ways, it’s the same thing as him. I feel like we still have good coaches.”
Dr. Joel Erdmann announced that associate head coach Jeff Price as interim head coach in the press conference on Wednesday. This is also Price’s second stint at South Alabama.
“He just walked in and he told us all that he wasn’t going to be our coach anymore and that he was proud of us and that he wishes us well on the future of the season,” Javier Carter recalling about the meeting. “We were just all stunned, honestly. Everybody was just in awe because we didn’t know what to expect. It was just out of the blue because we were getting ready for practice.”
Carter indicated that none of the players sensed that Arrow was disappointed or unhappy or even leaning towards that decision.
Additionally, Carter said that the meeting was so short and abrupt that none of the players had an opportunity to ask Arrow why he had made that decision. “None of us has talked to him to my knowledge. He came in and he talked to us and he greeted us all around the room and that was about it,” said Carter.
Rubit said that the players sensed the somberness and that they recognized the seriousness of the moments before Arrow addressed the team. “He came in, it was serious. Everybody put their phones down. We were thinking it’s like a normal day, (we’d) watch film. And he said it and it didn’t seem real. He said it, shook our hands and walked out. It didn’t seem real at all.”
“It was kind of awkward, just sitting back thinking about what the first game will be like without him. But I feel like all the coaches taught the same thing and followed him so we’ll see how it happens and how it goes.”
Carter said that the team is comfortable with Price taking over. “Coach Price as an assistant, we’ve really enjoyed him. He’s a players’ coach and a coach coach. We really enjoy coach Price and we believe if anybody else is for the job, it’s definitely him.”
“Everybody has their ups and downs, like anybody does as a head coach, but we all loved coach Arrow and we enjoyed him as a coach,” Carter finished.
Coach Price is excited to take over the program despise the circumstances. Price said that the joined Arrow’s staff at South Alabama because he could visualize himself taking over the program when Arrow’s time came to an end. But he didn’t expect it to be Wednesday.
Price was just as shocked as any of the South Alabama fans when he found out about Arrow’s decision.
“It was rather abrupt and took us all a little by surprise,” Price said in his first meeting with the media since the announcement. “Particularly me. I’ve known Ronnie for over 20 years. I think it took us all by surprise a little bit but I think up to this point everyone has handled it well and understands that we have to move forward and get back on track and do what we have to do.”
“You never want things to happen this way,” he continued. “I came back to South Alabama because I wanted to be the head coach here one day, which is why I came back here. But obviously you want to come back and be the head coach after we go to the (NCAA) tournament and Ronnie retires. That’s been different and difficult just because of my respect for him and our relationship. But I’m sure Ronnie understands as well, and wishes me the best of luck and obviously the players he was close to as well the best of luck.”
This becomes Price’s fourth head coaching stint as he takes over a team that is 5-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jags have a big win over then ranked Florida State to open the regular season. Price’s overall record as a head coach is 318-188 in 17 seasons as a head coach at Georgia Southern (1999-2009), West Virginia Wesleyan (2010-11) and Lynn, FL (1993-99).
Previously he was an assistant coach at South Alabama under Ronnie Arrow from 1989-1993, twice at Washington, Georgia Southern, Union KY, and Pikeville KY.
Now Price gets to audition for the permanent job the remainder of the season. He will be judged on how he handles the team and his team’s success. But Price said that he cannot view it as an audition, he has to approach it as service to the players.
“I think you have to stay away from yourself and understand this is about these guys,” Price said. “These guys have worked so hard. We’ve been at this even back to the summer when we went to Canada. We’ve been working for six or seven months and it’s about them right now. My situation will be taken care of based on how things go and it’s all about them and how they perform and present themselves, and I think we’ve got a great group of guys and they’ll do that.”
According to Price, there will not be any dramatic changes in how the team looks and plays, but there will likely be some differences.
“I don’t think, because we’ve been at it so long, that you can make drastic changes,” he said. “You’ll see some changes in regard to maybe how we approach the game, not so much what we do on the floor. We might open the floor up a little bit more. I respect coach Arrow and I learned from him in everything that he did. I think if anything changes you’ll see maybe some changes in our approach to the game and game day and practice and things like that more than you will, in particular, on the court.”
As of Thursday’s time with the media, Price said that he had not spoken to Arrow about his decision. “I’m sure he had his reasons (for retiring now), whatever they are, and I try not to speculate,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of people try to speculate and at this point, but obviously he felt like it was time to do that (retire).”
Price said that he believes the players have reacted well to the news. “It’s hard to tell (how the decision may have affected them immediately). Morale has been good to this point. I think our guys are mature enough to understand that this is part of the business. I’ve been doing this 30 years and this is just part of the business. People come and people go and you learn to circle the wagons and start over and regroup and I think after we get past this our guys will be excited. We’ve got a talented bunch of guys and I really like our team. I think we have a chance to have a special year, we’ve just got to get past this and regroup.”
“We have a goal in mind. This isn’t about me. This is about this university and these players and the success they know they can have. I think our team has a lot of promise and they know that and they’re smart enough to know you can’t let things drag on, you’ve got to get back to work. Hopefully, we’ll see that on Saturday.”
South Alabama will host Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday in the team’s first game since Arrow’s retirment. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05pm at The Mitchell Center.
USA Athletic Director Joel Erdmann talks Ronnie Arrow retirement during impromptu press conference
South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann during Wednesday’s basketball press conference Photo Credit: Matt Weaver | Special to Thunderjags
It’s somewhat ironic that South Alabama men’s basketball head coach Ronnie Arrow would choose to retire following a game in which his team defeated Texas A&M: Corpus Christi – the team that Arrow coached in between stints at the University of South Alabama.
In a move that can only be described as sudden, Arrow has asked and was granted his release as head coach of the Jaguars on Wednesday morning during a scheduled meeting with Athletic Director Joel Erdmann. As a result, assistant coach Jeff Price has taken over as interim head coach with a national coaching search to take place at the end of the season.
“It’s not entirely unheard of for a head coach to step down in the middle of a season,” Erdmann explained on Wednesday during a press conference. “He expressed a desire to retire, and I have accepted that notice of retirement, effective immediately.”
Arrow spoke to his players early on Wednesday morning and the team was “quite surprised,” according to Erdmann.
The Athletic Director followed that meeting by talking to the players separately where he told the team that a change in leadership will not change the goal of this season. He asked that the players continue to work toward a conference championship and securing a post-season berth.
“I think part of the formula and consistency moving forward is Jeff Price,” Erdmann said. “I can’t undervalue the amount of respect I have for him. The players have respect for him and I think the players will rebound and recover under Jeff’s leadership.”
Neither Arrow nor Price attendedWednesday’s press conference but the USA AD confirmed that Price would be considered for the full-time job next season if that was something he was interested applying for.
Erdmann admitted that the timing was indeed odd but would not confirm if Arrow’s decision was performance-based. South Alabama began the season on a high note, defeating nationally-ranked Florida State University, 76-71 on Nov. 9 in Tallahassee.
But the rest of the season has been marred by inconsistency with the Jaguars losing three-straight during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Atlanta as well another two-game skid to New Mexico State and UAB. However, South Alabama remains undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play, holding victories over Florida Atlantic and Florida International.
“Decisions like this are often personal in nature and I have an obligation to recognize that and move forward,” Erdmann said.
When asked if Arrow was retiring from the game of basketball, Erdmann paused and simply said, “He’s retiring from his position as head coach of South Alabama men’s basketball.”
Arrow has an overall record of 211-161 at USA, including a 112-84 mark in Sun Belt games. He’s been selected as the Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions and led USA to its only NCAA Tournament victory, a dramatic 86-84 victory over the University of Alabama on March, 17, 1989.
“Ronnie has a great history here and we have a great deal of respect for him,” Erdmann said.
Jeff Price will retain Arrow’s staff for the remainder of the season. The Jaguars’ next game is a home league contest versus West Conference leading Arkansas Little Rock. That game will be played this Saturday, Dec. 22 at 2:05 p.m.
Quotables:
Erdmann on the team’s chances for the rest of the season:
“We’re still 5-5 and 2-0 in the conference. We have perhaps…one of the best players in the league and a great supporting cast. This team has battled through moments of inconsistency that has led to what we can consider disappointing losses but we have a real potential for a post-season berth.”
Erdmann on Arrow’s second stint as South Alabama head coach:
The circumstances of the second hire can be seen as unique. I believe he was hired to take what was a veteran team to the post-season and that’s what he was able to accomplish.
On college basketball in Mobile and recruiting opportunities:
Unquestionably, we have a very recruitable city. We have a recruitable region, facilities – and we have the potential to have an amazing crowd environment.
We need to sell more tickets but we’ve done a great job recently of attracting the student body to our games and I think that is only going to continue.
Augustine Rubit Named Sun Belt Player Of The Week
South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday. This is the third time he has earned this honor in his career and the first time this season.
The Jaguars only had one game this week when they hosted Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday. Rubit scored 23 points, tied a career high with 19 rebounds and also tied a personal best with three assists in the Jags 74-69 win over the Islanders. His eight offensive boards were double any other player in the game.
Additionally, Rubit earned his fifth double-double of the year, which ties him for the most in the Sun Belt, and his second double-double in a row. His 19 rebounds were the most by a Sun Belt player so far this season.
Rubit currently leads the Sun Belt in rebounding with an average of 10.3 rebounds per game and is second in scoring with an average of 18.9 points per game.
Another career milestone is within reach for the junior. He is three points shy of becoming only the 14th Jaguar to score 1,000 points in a career.
South Alabama will return to the court on Saturday to continue their Conference schedule when Arkansas-Little Rock visits Mobile for a 2:05pm tip-off at the Mitchell Center on Saturday, December 22.
Viktor Juricek has breakout performance in South Alabama’s victory over Corpus Christi
South Alabama freshman Viktor Juricek | USAJaguars.com
Viktor Juricek had his best game as a member of South Alabama’s basketball program during the team’s 74-69 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Sunday afternoon. In 17 minutes off the bench, the freshman scored 10 points off 2-of-3 shooting (a pair of three-pointers) and was 4-for-4 from behind the free throw line.
It was this sort of raw talent that first attracted head coach Ronnie Arrow to the young Slovakian. More to the point, Sunday was an indication of what could be in store for basketball fans at the corner of Old Shell and University.
“Everyone seemed really surprised at Viktor’s three-point accuracy but that’s something we already knew he was capable of,” Arrow said. “But we’re looking to see his quickness and rebounding improve. The European game is a little bit slower and not quite as athletic so we think it’s going to take a full summer in our program before we start to see his full potential.”
Juricek chose South Alabama in large part due to Arrow and has already taken his staff’s advice to heart. He’s hoping to take the next step as soon as possible and is looking forward to more days like Sunday.
“The difference in strength and quickness is pretty noticeable,” Juricek said of the American game. “When I first got here, I was an inside-outside player who was always allowed to shoot the ball. Coach Arrow allows me to do that but he also wants to see me be more efficient on the inside – a more complete player.”
Juricek believes that he’s already seeing improvement, especially on his inside game but isn’t resting on Sunday’s success. He’s going to keep working.
“I know that I am not as strong as some of the other players, so I need to outwork them or be smarter than them — be more skilled than they are,” Juricek said. “In Europe, it was easier to drive to the basket from the outside but these guys are stronger and more athletic. [Sunday] showed what I was always capable of doing — shooting the ball. But I’m not taking a day off. That’s what got me here and I believe that’s the way I’ll get even further.”
His attitude is a favored trait by his head coach, leading him to believe that Juricek can ultimately make the transition — provided he maintains his work ethic.
“Here’s a guy that is always the first guy in and the last guy out. He’s a hard worker that’s going to put in maximum effort and that’s what we like about him.”
Read More: South Alabama’s Introducing Viktor Juricek feature
Check out Matt Weaver on Twitter at @MattWeaverJAG
South Alabama Men’s Basketball earns two-day vacation with 74-69 victory over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi guard Johnathan Jordan defends Barrington Stevens during Sunday’s 74-69 victory at the Mitchell Center
South Alabama men’s basketball snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon, defeating Texas A&M Corpus Christi 74-69 on a rainy night at the USA Mitchell Center. The Jaguars used a 14-2 run at the start of the game to pull away from the Islanders and they never looked back.
The Islanders three-point prowess (10-23) kept them in the game but it wasn’t enough to outduel the Jaguars who shot 25-of-59 from the floor.
Head coach Ronnie Arrow has stressed defense every day during practice following his team’s 92-78 defeat at the hands of UAB on Dec. 8. That renewed commitment to defense finally paid off on Sunday and Arrow responded by rewarding his team with two much-needed days off before practice resumes for the Dec. 22 conference match-up with Arkansas Little-Rock.
“I thought we really played well at the start of the game,” Arrow said. “I thought we really played well for most of the game. We came back and spent three very hard days on defense. We got after each other. We’ve been giving up far too many points.
“They still got 69 points, but I think until the last four minutes we were playing really good defense and we gave up some threes uncontested and didn’t guard the hole like we should have. But I thought overall our defense was a lot better.”
Augustine Rubit looked a lot better too, scoring 23 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. The junior All-Sun Belt player also made a little bit of history on Sunday afternoon, tying a career-high in rebounds and is now just three points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career. That mark is good for 14th on the all-time South Alabama scoring list.
The Islanders started the contest with a Zane Knowles jumper but the next eight minutes was all South Alabama as the Jaguars orchestrated a 14-point run. Brandon Pye broke the streak for Corpus Christi with an unassisted three-point jumper but Rubit responded with a lay-up and free throw to increase South Alabama’s lead to 17-5.
Mychal Ammons tacked-on a lay-up at the 12:03 mark to restore South Alabama’s 14-point lead.
Corpus Christi finally found their range following the Ammons bucket, with Will Nelson and Brandon Pye nailing three-consecutive three-pointers to start closing the gap. Joy Williamson hit his first layup at the 8:06 mark to end an 11-0 TAMCC comeback that made the score 21-18.
That is as close as Corpus Christi would get as South Alabma responded with an 11-0 run that virtually put the game out of reach.
Corpus Christi was led by Pye and Johnathan Jordan with 17 points each. Williamson and Nelson scored 12 points each with Nelson also grabbing eight rebounds.
The win puts South Alabama at 5-5 on the season, with TAMCC falling to 1-6.
The Corpus Christi game was the Jaguars final non-conference contest on the schedule. Little Rock will come into the Mitchell Center next week leading the SBC West with an 8-4, 2-0 record. While South Alabama has struggled to get back to a .500 record, Arrow was quick to remind everyone that the Jaguars are still 2-0 in conference with a share of the SBC East lead.
“Little Rock is young, physical and well-coached,” Arrow said. “But they are also susceptible to turnovers. Now we’re 2-0 in conference play and we want to get to 3-0 and that’s what we’re going to work on as soon as we’re rested.
Follow Matt Weaver on Twitter at @MattWeaverJAG
Jags Fall To UAB 92-78 On Saturday
The Jaguar men’s basketball team started off the game slow again against UAB in Birmingham on Saturday. The Blazers jumped out to a 16-4 lead to open the game in route to defeating the Jaguars 92-78 at Bartow Arena.
This win put the Blazer even for the season at 5-5 while the Jags drop to 4-5 on the season. The Jags continue to struggle in Bartow arena. They have lost the last nine games there and hold an all-time record of 2-19 in Birmingham. The Jags have not won at UAB since 1988.
The Blazers shot 57.1% from the floor and 52.9% from three-point range for the game. While the Jags struggled again by missing all 12 attempts from 3-point range and missing their first 14 attempts for the game.
“We didn’t play defense, there wasn’t much effort, we had poor shot selection and didn’t share the ball until late in the game,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “We’re not going to win games until our guys start taking a personal interest in their defense. It starts with them. There’s not enough discipline on offense and way too much not-knowing-what’s-going-on on defense.”
UAB made 11 of their first 14 shots of the game and lead 25-13 with 11:15 left in the first half. The Blazers would take a 46-27 lead into halftime.
The Blazers would lead by as much as 28 points in the second half.
“They were working hard and we were standing around,” Arrow said. “We have basic things that we do that we didn’t do tonight until we decided to start getting some points and sharing the ball. We’re going to look at this long and hard and we’re going to play the guys that share the ball and want to work.”
The Jags would hit their stride late in the game and went on a 14-3 run, capped off with a three-pointer from Mychal Ammons, to close the Blazer lead to 90-78 with 1:25 left in the game. The Blazers would get an offensive rebound on its next possession and hit two free throws for the final points of the game.
Augustine Rubit earned his fourth double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds, 16 of his points coming after halftime. Xavier Roberson added 18 points, 13 of his in the second half as well. Freddie Goldstein chipped in 13 points coming off the bench.
South Alabama show just 30.3% from the floor in the first half, but would come out of the halftime locker room and shot 54.8% and 46.7% from three-point range. The Blazers would shoot 51.3% in the first half and would improve on that by shooting 66.7% in the second half.
UAB had five players in double-digits lead by Fahro Alihodzic with 17 points.
South Alabama will open a three-game home stand beginning on December 16 when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Jags Fall To New Mexico State 58-52
The Jags fell behind by 17 points early against New Mexico State but would rally back but could not overcome the Aggies, losing 58-52 Tuesday night at the Mitchell Center. With the loss the Jags fall to 4-4 on the season (2-0 SBC) and New Mexico State improves to 5-4 on the season.
South Alabama would close within two points with about two minutes left in the game, however missed free throws and two turnovers would be the Jags undoing.
“We had so many chances to win that ball game, but we just couldn’t get over the hump,” head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “It seemed like every time we got it to one point or three points we made a horrible decision on shot selection or turned the ball over.”
After the Jags took their only lead of the game at 4-2, the Aggies would go on a 21-2 run over an almost 10 minute span. The Jags would make their first field goal attempt of the game, but would go stone cold by missing 16 of their next 18 shots including a run of nine consecutive misses.
“We shot 31 percent,” Arrow said. “I thought our shot selection was pretty bad.”
Mychal Ammons agreed in his post-game interview, calling some of the Jaguars shot selections “crazy”.
However the Jags would respond with eight unanswered points that was capped off with a Freddie Goldstein three-pointer. Overall, they finished the half on a 19-8 run to go into the locker room down 31-25.
In the opening moments of the second half Ammons would cut the Aggie lead to two points after nailing a three-pointer, but New Mexico State would answer with a 9-2 run to extend their lead to nine points at 42-33 with 11:10 left in the game.
With 4:32 left in the game and trailing 53-46 the Jags would get a tip-in from Javier Carter and a three-pointer from Xavier Roberson around a pair of Aggies free throws to cut their lead to 54-51. But missed free throws by the Jaguars would prevent the Jags from cutting the Aggie lead down to one point.
The Aggies did just enough from the free throw line to put the pressure on the Jaguars, making 1-of-2 but Ammons would miss the front end of a 1 and 1 with 1:17 left in the game. Yet the Jags were within three points 55-52 with 33.7 seconds left, but a backdoor pass was deflected and stolen forcing the Jags to foul.
“We just right there at the end drew up a play,” Arrow said. “Mychal ran it and was wide open and we threw the ball away. That would have cut it to one point. We turn the ball over, they go down and instead of being down one they make the free throws and we’re down five. I’m happy that our guys came back but I’m disappointed in crucial situations we didn’t do what we could to win the game.”
“Tonight if we made our free throws we probably would have won the game,” Arrow continued. “(We were) nine for 17. We were leading the conference in free throw shooting. So we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. You only get so many times in a game. And it’s just sad because we still had an opportunity to win the game.”
Ammons would lead the Jags with 16 points and eight rebounds. Augustine Rubit and Carter both would score eight points each with 10 rebounds and 6 rebounds respectively. Roberson would chip in seven points and freshman Barrington Stevens added six points.
The Jags will go on the road for another non-conference match-up with UAB in Birmingham. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm at Bartow Arena.
Jags Set To Face Off Against New Mexico State Tonight At The Mitchell Center
South Alabama men’s basketball team returns home after a 2-0 start in the Sun Belt Conference. They will host former conference rival New Mexico State on Tuesday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:05pm.
“That’s what it’s all about – winning conference games,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Non-conference games are a lead-up to the conference. Not only are we 2-0, but we’re 2-0 on the road, so that’s even better. I was proud of our guys with the way we won. There’s room for improvement, especially in late-game situations, but I thought our guards came ready to play. That’s the best overall they’ve played since Florida State.”
“Now it comes time to see how we handle this,” Arrow continued. “We went and opened up with Florida State and didn’t show up for some games. Our defense was really good (last week) and hopefully now our guys will keep buying in because our defense leads to slam-dunk offense.”
This game at home will only be the second of the season so far in their seven games this season.
The Jags used their sharp 3-point shooting over the last two games to propell them to wins. The Jags have made 20 in a two game span including eight from junior Xavier Roberson with a career high five at FAU.
“The game has become 3-point shooting,” coach Arrow said. “If you’re hitting 3-point shots, you don’t have to draw up plays. It’s penetrate-and-pitch and get up and down the court. Along the way you have to execute in key situations and I think we’re getting better at that. But it’s always nice to be able to pitch to the shooters and have them hit 3-pointers.”
The New Mexico State Aggies enter the game leading the WAC in 3-point defense (.272) and are second in scoring defense with 60.5 points per game.
“They pressure the ball a lot,” Arrow said of the Aggie defense. “Whenever you have that kind of size inside, you don’t have to worry about the hole. You don’t have to come off shooters. When they drive, you have the gigantic guys back there guarding the hole so you don’t have to hedge and can stay on the shooters. That’s why they’re so good at not giving up 3s.”
The Aggies enter the game with a 4-4 record but has won three of their last four games and is coming off of a 68-60 win over then undefeated Southern Miss on Saturday. Their one loss in the last four games came by one point to UTEP 55-54.
Coach Arrow stressed that they out-rebound teams by about 11 rebounds per game. “We’re going to have to box them out and we can’t give up second shots,” he said. “When they’re playing at their best, their bigs are getting buckets right around the hole and we can’t let that happen.”
South Alabama will have tall challenge to defeat the Aggies. They have five players listed at 6’8″ or taller including a 6’10 center and a 7’5” 360-pound freshman center who averages 6.1 points per game and 11 blocks in 14.6 minutes per game.
“Their guys are just big and you can’t let them just catch the ball on the blocks,” Arrow said. “You have to make them get off the block somehow. You have to make them uncomfortable. Bhullar, if he catches it under the rim, I don’t think he has to jump to dunk it. We cannot give them second shots from offensive rebounds. We have to make them work for their shots.”
“We don’t need to pound it in there and expect to shoot it over these guys,” said continued. “We have to take them off the dribble and just make outside shots. We have to do what we do to get and get everybody shots, not just our inside guys.”
Augustine Rubit and Javier Carter will be key for the Jags to counter the Aggie height on the court. Combined they average 23.5 points and 16.5 rebounds per game last week.
Jaguar Basketball Downs FIU 79-68
The South Alabama men’s basketball team was in action on Saturday evening in their second game of a two-game conference swing through Florida. The Jags came out with a win against Florida International 79-68.
The Jags improved to 4-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference play while FIU falls to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 so far in the conference. The win also made coach Ronnie Arrow the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time leader in conference wins by breaking his tie with Gene Bartow.
“I thought we had a very solid game and I thought the guys did, in certain situations, what we had to do to win,” coach Arrow said. “We’re still fouling too much at the end when we shouldn’t be trying to block 3-point shots, and hopefully we’ll get better at that, but the bottom line is, we’re 2-0 in the conference and we’re 2-0 on the road in the conference. That’s what it’s all about, conference play getting you ready for the postseason.”
“Coach Bartow was not only a great coach, but a great person, and to be even mentioned in the same breath with him is great,” Arrow continued. “I’m really happy, but I’m happy to be 2-0 in the conference.”
The Jags shot a season best 53.3% from the floor and 54.2% from three-point range. The 13 three’s they made was a new season high as well. Eight of the 13 three pointers came in the first half and at one point has six consecutive field goals came from behind the three point line. Three of those in a row came from Mychal Ammons.
The Jags used that three point attack to turn a four point deficit into a 10 point lead with 7:16 left left before halftime.
South Alabama would stretch its lead to 20 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half.
Mychal Ammons scored a game-high 21 points while adding five rebounds and two assists. Augustine Rubit chipped in 19 points and came one short of a double-double with nine. Antoine Allen added 13 points, Freddie Goldstein chipped in 11 points and five rebounds as well. Two other Jaguars scored in single digits.
South Alabama will return home to host New Mexico State with tip-off scheduled for 7:05 pm.
Jags End Losing Streak By Defeating FAU 77-66
The South Alabama men’s basketball team broke their three game losing streak with a win over Florida Atlantic Thursday night 77-66. The win improved the the Jaguars record to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference while FAU’s record falls to 2-4 overall (0-1 SBC).
“We worked on their stuff for three full days and I think tonight we guarded them,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said after the game. “We still didn’t guard the 3-point line, but overall I was very happy, especially with our guard play. We only had nine turnovers and we held them to 41 percent shooting (from the floor).”
The win marks the 300th conference win for the South Alabama program and also coach Arrow’s 111th conference win to tie him with Gene Bartow for the most in conference history.
“I’m more into being 1-0 in the conference,” Arrow said. “That’s the most important thing. We’re working on the conference now and we play Florida International Saturday. Being 2-0, that’s the record I’m interested in.”
The Jags scored a season-high 44 points in the first half behind a career-best 23 points from Xavier Roberson. He scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half on five 3-pointers by going 5-of-8 from outside the arc prior to halftime. Six of his eight second half points came from the free throw line.
“When our 3-point shooters are on, we’re going to beat a lot of teams by a lot of points,” Arrow explained.
The Jags were down 10-6 early in the game but Roberson nailed back-to-back 3-point shots to take the lead. A layup from Javier Carter lead to another 3-pointer by Roberson to put the Jag lead up to seven points. Another layup by Carter would cap off the 13-0 Jaguar run.
Before halftime, South Alabama would put together another scoring outburst as four different Jags chipped in for the 9-0 run. Augustine Rubit slam would cap off the surge and propel the Jags to an 18 point lead.
“We were scoring off of our defense,” Arrow said. “We were able to defend and that ignited our fast break.”
FAU would end the half on a 7-0 run capped off with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to 44-33 at the half.
Both teams would cool off in the second half. South Alabama shot 50% in the first half, but would only shoot 30.8% in the second half. The Owls shooting percentage would fall by 10% in the second half as well.
FAU would only be able to get within seven points of the Jags in the final 2:19 of the game. The Jags would go 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 65 seconds of the game to help preserve the win.
Roberson would lead the Jags with his 23 points with 5 rebounds. Freddie Goldstein added 15 points with 3 assists. Augustine Rubit would add 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double while Javier Carter would also add 11 points but come one rebound shy of a double-double with 9 for the game. Four other Jaguars scored in single digits for the game.
FAU only had one player in double digits. Greg Gantt scored a game-high 29 points with 8 rebounds.
South Alabama will travel to play Florida International on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 6:30pm Central time.