Jags Lose A Heartbreaker To Arkansas 79-77

November 26, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jags Lose A Heartbreaker To Arkansas 79-77 

After leading at halftime 45-55 the Jags lead for 14:57 second of the second half but gave it up for the most crucial 3 seconds of the game. Domonic Tilford came out in the first half with the hot hand and ends the game with 23 to lead the Jags in scoring. Brandon Davis scored 18 and LaShun Watson scored 10 to mark the only other Jags in double digits.

USA had a chance to push the lead out to three points with 19.6 seconds left but Daniel Hayles missed both shots leaving the door open for the Razorbacks last second shot. USA was 17-25 from the foul line for the night. While USA hit on a higher percentage of foul shots, 68% to 61%, if two more had fallen for USA the game would have been tied.

Arkansas shot 55% from the three-point arc, making 12 of 22. In all of the Jaguars losses, this has been a common theme. But combine that with sloppy play in the final minutes of the game and you will typically find the recipe for a loss.

Arkansas was lead by Courtney Fortson with 25 and closely trailed by Stefan Welsh who scored 24 on the night.  The largest contributor from the bench was Rotnei Clark with 12, otherwise the rest of the players, both starters and from the bench, combined for a total of 18 points.

It was an emotional game with the return of Coach Pelphrey to the Mitchell Center for the first time since his departure for Arkansas. However, the crowd was unusually quiet since the USA Outlaws were not in attendence en mass as usual. Also for the Coors Classic, the students were not crowded together as per what is usual for a typical USA home game. This factor may have worked to Arkansas’ advantage since they had a young team playing a more experienced squad.

USA will have to shake off this loss quickly because they will take the court again on Friday when Maine, Tulane and UC Davis come to town for the USA Basketball Classic at the Mitchell Center. Tulane and UC Davis will play at 5pm and the Jags will play Maine 30 minutes after that game finishes. The Tournament will wrap up on Saturday with the consolation game starting at 5pm and the championship game (hopefully with USA playing) starting 30 minutes after it ends.

Go Jags!

#3 Louisville Defeats Jags In Championship Game

November 24, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on #3 Louisville Defeats Jags In Championship Game 

Brandon Davis and Domonic Tilford scored 16 points each while Davis had a game best 12 rebounds in the loss. While Samardo Samuels scored 24 points with 9-10 shooting from the field, 6-7 shooting from the charity stripe, three assists and three blocks. Three other Cardinal starters scored in double digits in the win. But, it wasn’t until a 14-2 second half run midway through before Louisville broke the game open.

At halftime, the Jags were down 39-27 and had only committed four more turnovers than the Cardinals but committed 13 to the Cards two in the second half.

The Jags held the Cardinals to only 44% shooting and out rebounded them 41-38 for the game, but only shot 36% and commited 24 turnovers (12 of them were steals).

Coach Arrow was quoted saying, “You could be looking at this year’s national champions.  Coach Pitino has assembled a group of guys where they can go 10 or 11 deep and not miss a beat.”

The Jag will play again when the Razorbacks of Arkansas, and former USA Coach John Pelphrey, visit the Mitchell Center for what is sure to be an emotionally charged game in the annual Coors Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 8pm and it will be broadcast regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast.

Go Jags! BLEED IT RED!

Jags Down Florida A&M To Advance In Tournament

November 24, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jags Down Florida A&M To Advance In Tournament 

South Alabama Senior Guard, Domonic Tilford, saw his first action of the season on Saturday against the Rattlers of Florida A&M at the Billy Minardi Classic in Louisville. In less than four minutes he scored 10 points and finished the game with 17 to lead the Jags in scoring. Three other Jags scored in double figures, DeAndré Coleman with 14 points, Brandon Davis 12 and Daniel Hayles 11. Additionally, Coleman and Charles Tabet came down with nine rebounds each.

The game saw several explosions of scoring from both teams. Tilford lead it off by hitting two three-pointers in less than a minute then added two more scores for his quick 10 points leading the Jags to a 14-3 lead. Then about half way through the first half, USA lead 22-13 then went on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes. With about 6 minutes left in the first half, the Jags had a 19 point lead then the Rattlers Brandon Bryant connected on two three-pointers in 33 seconds to cut the lead to 13. Coleman made a matching pair of threes to in the final minute of the first half to lead USA into the locker room with a 47-30 lead.

The Jags came out and scored the first 19 points of the second half in a six minute span. The Jags led by as much as 39 points at one point in the game and finishing with a 93-64 win.

The Rattlers shot 34% overall and were out rebounded by USA 57-27 while USA shot 54%, hit a season best 8 threes and had 22 assists on 36 field goals.

With this win, the Jags face the #3 team Louisville on Sunday in the Championship game.

This game was an improvement over last weeks loss to the Rebels, but clearly the Rattlers are not of the same caliber as Ole Miss. Improved rebounding and better outside defense are a must if the Jags want to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Go Jags!

Men Come Up Short On The Road Against Ole Miss

November 20, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Men Come Up Short On The Road Against Ole Miss 

A strong start by the Ole Miss Rebels en route to a 19 point halftime lead on Tuesday. David Huertas of the Rebels connected on a career tying seven three-pointers, he went 7-13 falling just one short of the Rebels all time mark of three-pointers in a game. He still finished with 27 points on the night.

Overall the Rebels hit on 11 three-pointers and out shot the Jags 47% to 42% from the field and forced 11 of 15 Jags turnovers in the first half but only allowing four turnovers in the second half.

However they did lead most of the first three plus minutes before a 14-2 run helped Ole Miss take control. Brandon Davis, who was named the first Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday, scored 19 points on 7-11 shooting with 3 blocks. The loss drops the Jags to 1-1 (0-0) for the season, which is only two games old.

The Jags continue their three game road trip with a 7pm tip versus Florida A&M in the opening round of the Billy Minardi Classic hosted by Louisville.

Season Opener Wins For Both Men and Women Jaguars

November 15, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's, Women's · Comments Off on Season Opener Wins For Both Men and Women Jaguars 

Both the Men’s and Women’s teams chalked up wins in their first games of the season tonight. The women won impressively 83-30 over Nicholls State at the Mitchell Center. They dominated from the very beginning with a 16-0 run and never looked back. Four lady Jags scored in double digits and they caused 36 turnovers which netted 32 points.

The Lady Jags will take the court again on Monday at the Mitchell Center when they host UAB at 7:05pm.

The Men took the lead from the beginning and never relinquished it, winning 87-79 over Alcorn State. Four starters scored in double digits led by Brandon Davis’ 21 points and a career high of 14 rebounds on the night. The Jags won the battle on the boards decisively with 51 to Alcorn State’s 29. Bryan Sherrer did a good job running the team, taking over for Daon Merritt who graduated.

The Jags looked good early but they were a bit suspect guarding the outside shot. The Braves hit on 12 of 26 attempts from outside the arc for the game. They shot better in the first half from outside the arc but halftime adjustments by Coach Arrow tightened their defense of the outside shot.

The Jags took a 57-44 lead into the locker room at halftime but were outscored in the second half 35-30. While this is a good start to the season, it did reveal some things that must improve for the Jags in order to win the SBC Championship.

The Jaguars plays again on Tuesday when they travel to Ole Miss for a 7pm tip-off against the rebels.

Congratulations to Caitlyn Collins who won the halftime sumo wrestling match to retain the SGA Presidents office against the President of the South Alabama Outlaws.  Also congratulations is due to Ward Miller, band director at South Alabama, for the performance of the pep band (oh and thanks for my t-shirt). Previous pep bands were a small but enthusiastic group of musicians who came out to support the team. Now the pep band is larger and more organized with more instruments in the mix.

Go Jags!

DeAndré Coleman Scores Double-Double In Win Over West Florida

November 11, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on DeAndré Coleman Scores Double-Double In Win Over West Florida 

DeAndré Coleman had 10 rebounds and 12 points in the Jaguars 67-58 win over West Florida last night at the Mitchell Center. Dominic Tilford lead the Jags in scoring with 16 and Brandon Davis scored 12 and 8 rebounds. The Jags outscored the Argonauts 12-5 in the final four minutes to finally put them away.

Two players led the Argonauts in scoring with 14 each. The Jags held them to 38% shooting overall but allowed them to shoot 50% from 3-point range. Both teams had 15 turnovers each and the Jags were just over 40% from the field and converted all 23 free throws.

Go Jags!

Basketball Season Tickets Now Available

October 27, 2008 · By · Filed Under Men's · Comments Off on Basketball Season Tickets Now Available 

I received an email stating that the time is now to get reserve seats for the upcoming basketball season. Starting at $50 this will guarantee you a seat for all of the home games. This works out to less than $3 a game, how can you go wrong there? Plus with games against Arkansas and WKU (Who made it to the sweet 16) its going to be a great season.

Call 461.1USA to get tickets today and cheer on the Jags from the stands.

Go Jags!

Jags picked second in SBC

October 13, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · 2 Comments 

While seniors Brandon Davis and Domonic Tilford have been chosen for preseason honors, the Jags team have been chosen to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference eastern division.

Davis and Tilford, two of five seniors on the 2008-2009 Jags squad, have been selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt Conference team.

Jags received 60 points and two first place votes while Middle Tennessee received 76 points and 11 first place votes when the 13 conference coaches voted. Arkansas Little-Rock and North Texas received 76 points each for a first place tied in the SBC western division with UL Lafayette finishing with 75 points.

The All-SBC team first team honors go to South Alabama’s Brandon Davis, Desmond Yates (MTSU), Russell Hicks (Florida International), Carlos Monroe (Florida Atlantic) and Josh White (North Texas).

Second team All-SBC include South Alabama’s Domonic Tilford, Collin Dennis (North Texas), Jeremy Evans (Western Kentucky), Tony Hooper (Louisiana-Monroe) and Kevin Kanaskie (Middle Tennessee). Third team All-SBC honors go to Kyndall Dykes (New Orleans), Chris Gradnigo (Louisiana-Lafayette), Paul Graham III (FAU), Steven Moore (UALR) and A.J. Slaughter (WKU).

South Alabama will host West Florida in an exhibition game on November 10th at the Mitchell Center with the tip scheduled for 7:05pm.

Go Jags.

New Ticket Packages for USA Basketball Available

October 10, 2008 · By · Filed Under Men's · Comments Off on New Ticket Packages for USA Basketball Available 

The USA Ticket Office announced today that two new ticket packages for Jags Basketball will go on sale Monday, October 13th.

The package named ‘The Three-point Play’ will include tickets for the season opener with Alcorn State on Nov. 14th, Arkansas in the Coors Classic on Nov. 26th (Against former USA Baskeball Coach John Pelphrey) and the Dec. 7th game against Houston Baptist. This ticket package is listed for $39, which is a savings of $10. Also, upper level seating is just $25.

The second new package is the Holiday Tournament Package, which against costs $39 or lower level seating and $25 for upper level seating. The package is for five games which includes Arkansas , both days of the USA Basketball Classic on Friday and Saturday, November 28th and 29th.

For more information about South Alabama athletics visit their official website at www.usajaguars.com

Go Jags

USA Basketball Single-game tickets on sale Friday

October 8, 2008 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's, Women's · Comments Off on USA Basketball Single-game tickets on sale Friday 

Single game tickets for USA’s 08-09 Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams will go on sale Friday, October 10th.

Lower level prices are $12 and upper level prices are $7 except for the Coors Classic when USA will take on Arkansas and former USA coach Pelphrey. This game on Wednesday, November 26th are $25 lower level and $15 upper level tickets.

Women’s tickets are $5 each with general admission seating.

You can pick them up online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone or by visiting the Mitchell Center ticket office. Jaguars fans can call about season tickets 251.461.1USA.
Go Jags!

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