South Alabama Sports Weekend Roundup
Men’s Basketball
The South Alabama Men’s basketball team lost 72-60 to Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Arkansas on Saturday night for thier sixth consecutive loss. The Jags fell to 6-11 overall and 0-4 in Sun Belt play while Arkansas State improves to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in Sun Belt play.
South Alabama shot 34.5% from the floor and 28.6% from 3-point range. Freshman Aakim Saintil led the Jags in scoring with 10 points while Augustine Rubit added nine points and seven rebounds. Freshman Ken Williams also scored nine points while Mychal Ammons added eight points and seven rebounds. Freshman Isaiah Maston scored eight points. Only one Jaguar made four field goals with no other Jaguar equally or surpassing that.
The Red Wolves outrebounded the Jaguars 41-33 as USA only had five assists to go along with nine turnovers.
ASU’s Kirk Van Slyke led all scorers with 21 points and 14 rebounds with Ed Townsel added 12 points and 10 rebounds as they shot 42.6% from the floor though the Jaguars did hold them to only 25% shooting from outside the 3-point arc.
South Alabama will try to get their first conference win this week when they return to Mobile to host two-consecutive games. The first will be on Thursday evening against Louisiana-Lafayette at 7:05pm then they will host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at 4:05pm.
Football
South Alabama and UAB will meet for the first time on the gridiron in 2015.
The Blazers and the Jaguars were once in-state rivals when they both were in the Sun Belt Conference. They have renewed their basketball rivalry on the hardwood many times since the Blazer moved the Conference USA but they have not faced each other since South Alabama began their football program in 2009.
Lady Jags Drop First Conference Game
Arkansas-Little Rock got 27 points from Taylor Gault while holding the Lady Jaguars to 14.3% shooting from outside the arc as the South Alabama women’s basketball team lost their first Sun Belt Conference game.
The Jags (4-9 overall, 2-1 SBC) were dominated defensively. Ronneka Robertson was the only Jaguar in double digits with ten points and eight rebounds. Meghan Dunn finished with nine points. Rachel Cumbo, who was averaging 18.5 points per game over the previous two Sun Belt Conference games and led the league in three-point shooting, was limited to one field goal attempt and two late free throws in the game.
The Jags made a season-low 2-of-14 from outside the three point arc.
Meanwhile South Alabama head basketball coach Terry Fowler said that the Jaguar defense, “just didn’t have the urgency level that we needed to have to give ourselves a chance [against] a team the caliber of Arkansas-Little Rock.” Gautl was 9-of-17 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range while also making all three shots from the charity stripe.
South Alabama will travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas to face Arkansas State on Saturday at 3:05pm.
USA Men’s And Women’s Basketball Begin Two Game Road Trip
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are on the road for a two-game road trip to Arkansas this week.
The Lady Jaguars look to extend their winning streak and to keep the Conference record perfect as they face Arkansas-Little Rock this evening in Little Rock, Arkansas. UALR is 1-1 on the season and 6-6 overall. The Jags are 4-8 overall and 2-0 in Sun Belt play.
The Lady Jags then face Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon with a 3:05pm tip in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Red Wolves are 8-6 overall and also 2-0 in Sun Belt play.
The men’s team is in the midst of a four-game losing streak and have dropped their first two conference games to Western Kentucky (56-58) and Georgia State (63-73) both at the Mitchell Center. They look to even their conference record and improve their road record as they also face Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State this week.
The Jags will start with UALR on Thursday evening with a 7pm tipoff in Little Rock. UALR is 7-7 overall for the season and 2-0 in conference play. The Jags are 6-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
The Jags will then face Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Arkansas on Saturday night with a 7pm tip. The Red Wolves are 9-4 overall and are also 2-0 in Sun Belt play.
While the conference season has not started the way first-year head coach Matthew Graves had wanted, but he believes his team can continue to get better and make this season a success. In his post-game comments, Graves said that he thought Augustine Rubit and Mychal Ammons both were taking too few shots and that, as a team, they need to be more aggressive. He also called himself out saying that he needs to do a better job of motivating his players to be more physical and more aggressive.
But the bottom line that, if he had a pen, would have been that he wants to see more passion out of his team. He said it doesn’t matter if its whether they make a shot or make a mistake. He does not want to see them feel sorry for themselves when they are not making shots.
Graves also pointed out that they are only three or four possessions away from turning several games into wins. He also thought that those possessions are really generated by how much energy, excitement and passion for playing that they have.
USA Women’s Basketball Defeat GSU, Improve To 2-0 In Conference Play
The South Alabama Women’s basketball team picked up a 65-57 win over conference newcomer Georgia State on Saturday. The Lady Jags improved their record to 4-8 overall and 2-0 in Conference play. Georgia State falls to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
USA was led by Rachel Cumbo’s 20 points, a career high for her, as she went 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point range. She also added seven rebounds before she fouled out of the game.
Breanna Hall added 12 points, 11 of them coming in the second half, as she went 3-of-6 from teh field and 4-of-7 from the free throw line. Colby Davis added 10 points. Ronneka Robertson fell just short of a double-double with with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Panthers managed to force 21 turnovers, 13 of them steals, but USA held a 19-17 edge in points off turnovers.
“Our players are playing with so much confidence right now,” first-year South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. “To come out and have a great start, Rachel (Cumbo) made some threes early and Ronneka (Robertson) made a couple of big baskets in the post, gave us some confidence right away. We just played inside out. We did exactly what we wanted to. They really took away Meghan Dunn tonight, but Breanna (Hall) was able to step up and make some plays, so it was a team effort. I couldn’t be more proud of how we fought, hung in there and the way we were able to finish the game and be able to get off to a 2-0 start in the Sun Belt.”
The Lady Jaguars will travel to Arkansas-Little Rock on Wednesday for a 7pm tipoff at the Jack Stephens Center as they look to improve their conference record to 3-0 on the season.
USA Falls to Georgia State 73-63 On Saturday
Georgia State powered their way past the Jaguars 73-63 on Saturday behind R.J. Hunter’s 30 points. The Jaguars fall to 6-9 overall and 0-2 in Sun Belt play. The Panthers improve to the opposite of the Jaguars record with an overall record of 9-6 and 2-0 in Sun Belt play.
Hunter was 6-of-12 from the field overall and 5-of-9 from three point range while converting all 13 free throw attempts. He scored 21 of his 30 points in the first half.
At halftime the Jaguars trailed by only three points despite Hunter’s 21 points and the Panthers eight 3-pointers. The second half opened with a 7-0 Panther run to make the score 46-36. Later in the half, Augustine Rubit grabbed a rebound and madet he putback, then Aakim Saintil made two free throws to cut the Panther lead to eight points, but another 7-0 run gave them their largest lead of the game at 61-46.
USA answered with their own 7-0 run to cut the Panther lead to 68-61 with 2:43 left in the game, but the Panters would quickly add five points with three free throws by Hunter and a Markus Crider layup after a Jaguar miss to put the Panthers up 73-61 with 1:26 left.
“Obviously I’m disappointed in the start of conference play; 0-2 is certainly not where you want to be, but if these are the two best teams then we’re not that far off,” South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said in his post-game comments. “I didn’t want our guys to be satisfied because they’re going to hear those are the two best teams. Well, who knows? We’re two games in and we’re trending in the wrong direction and there’s no question about that. We have to be a lot more disciplined and play with a better purpose.”
“That’s what an all-league player is supposed to do,” Graves said about R.J. Hunter’s performance for the Panthers. “He comes in and is aggressive and plays with a chip on his shoulder. I think he was excited to come here on the road and prove that he is one of the best players in the league. I don’t think there was any doubt tonight who the best player on the floor was.”
Ken Williams led the Jags with 19 points while adding seven rebounds. he scored 11 of his 19 points after halftime. Augustine Rubit was the only other Jaguar to score in double digits with 11 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double, his sixth of the season.
Mychal Ammons finished just short of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. Though he also added three blocked shots.
“I was really encouraged,” Graves commented on Williams’ performance. “It was nice to see Ken make some shots and hopefully this will give him confidence as we move forward. It’s always good for a shooter to see shots go in. I was really proud that he was able to step up and make some shots. It really started and I’m going to tell him this, early in the game he was attacking the basket and not settling for that ‘3’ early in the game. I liked his mindset in that regard and hopefully his shooting will continue to carry over.”
“I think both of those guys were probably a little too unselfish if you want to call it that for now,” Graves said about Rubit and Ammons. “They need to be more assertive when they get the ball. They need to go through guys and take guys up there with them. I told them I can’t remember the last time we had an ‘and-1’ finish. We drove it in three or four times tonight and they may have called the foul or may have not and we’re still missing the shot. We just have to have a more aggressive, attacking mentality when we’re going to the rim.”
South Alabama will travel to Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday. The game will get underway at 7pm.
Jags Fall To Rival WKU In Final Seconds
In true rivalry fashion South Alabama and Western Kentucky was a hard fought game and was decided in the final seconds. After calling a time out with 29.2 seconds left in the game, Hilltopper Chris Harrison-Docks sunk a high floating shot from the lane with 4.3 seconds left to give WKU a 58-56 win in their final trip to the Mitchell Center as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
On the other end of the floor, the Jags had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but despite a good look at the basket, Augustine Rubit’s shot from about 14 feet came up short as time expired.
USA led by as many as eight points on three seperate occasions early in the second half, but the Hilltoppers increased the pressure and forced turnovers to open an 8-0 run to tie the game. After an Aaron Adeoye layup, the ‘toppers used turnovers by the Jags to convert back-to-back 3-pointers to open up a lead. But the Jags would battle back and from that point on the largest lead by either team would be four points.
Mychal Ammons posted a team-high 15 points with three assists while Augustine Rubit added 10 points and nine rebounds. Antoine Allen also added 10 points for the Jags.
WKU’s T.J. Price led all scorers with 19 points while Harrison-Docks came off the bend to add 11 points and four assists. George Fant earned a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Only the second loss of the season at home puts the Jags at 6-8 overall and 0-1 in Sun Belt play. WKU improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in Sun Belt play.
After being outrebounded 25-15 in the first half, they closed the gap to 40-36 for the game. Despite winning the last three meetings, the Hilltoppers trail 33-32 in their all-time record. The Jags are the only Sun Belt school who has a winning record all-time against WKU.
South Alabama will host Georgia State on Saturday for a 4:05pm tip at the Mitchell Center.
Jags Host ‘Toppers For Final Time As SBC Rivals
The Jaguar Men’s Basketball team will renew their conference rivalry with Western Kentucky one last time in the Mitchell Center on Thursday evening. The Hilltoppers will join Conference USA next season for the 2014-2015 year.
The Jags have had a rough month of December with four road games, three of them against top 100 RPI schools. They went 2-4 in December and enter the game with an overall record of 6-7 as they begin their Conference schedule.
Senior Augustine Rubit is averaging 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Those rank seventh and third in the conference respectively and became the all-time leading rebounder in the conference on Saturday against New Mexico State.
The Hilltoppers rely on T.J. Price and George Fant. Price is right behind Rubit with an average of 17.1 points per game while Fant averages 14.1 points per game. In their 79-74 loss to Ole Miss on Monday, Price scored 26 points with six 3-pointers while Fant added 23 points against Brescia (KY.) on December 28.
Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves understands that Price and Fant are as good as any duo in the conference. “They’re tough, they’re physical, they have a presence about them and they have a swagger about them,” Graves said. “They’re the defending conference champs so they have a bit of an ego and that’s a good thing if you’re a Western Kentucky fan. We’ll certainly have our hands full but I think the way we guard in our system, it’s a team defense so it’s not one guy guarding Price and one guy guarding Fant. It’s our five guys defending Western Kentucky.”
“We understand that, especially for Price, he’s going to make some tough shots. That’s what he does, but how many times can we make him take those tough shots and not give him easy baskets? With Fant, you really have to match his energy. He does a great job of scoring around the basket, attacking the goal, getting to the free-throw line and getting offensive rebounds. Can we play as hard as he’s going to play? I think our guys are going to be ready for that challenge.”
The Jags and the Hilltoppers tipoff for the final time as Conference Rivals in the Mitchell Center at 5:05pm.
Lady Jags Upset Western Kentucky 74-65 To Open Conference Play
The South Alabama women’s basketball team upset Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Wednesday afternoon 74-65 to open their Sun Belt Conference schedule. The Jags had four players in double figures as the Jags improved to 3-8 (1-0 SBC) on the season.
Meghan Dunn led the Jags with a career high 21 points as she went 7-of-13 from the floor and hitting both 3-point attempts. She was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Rachel Cumbo added 17, just short of tying her career high, on 4-of-6 shooting with all four coming from outside the three-point arc by going 4-of-5 from three-point range. She was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line and had seven rebounds in her 32 minutes on the floor.
Brittany Webb set a new career-high with 14 points as she shot 4-of-6 from floor and 2-of-2 from from 3-point range while hitting all four free throw attempts. Colby Davis chipped in 10 points by going 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Jags as a team was 25-of-32 from the charity stripe. They outshot the hilltoppers 20-for-48 (43.5%) for the game and shot 55% in the second half with four three-pointers and shot 75% from long range for the game.
Western Kentucky fell to 8-4 (0-1 SBC) in their final visit as Sun Belt Conference rivals to the Mitchell Center. They were led by Chastity Gooch’s game-high 26 points and nine rebounds. Bianca McGee was the only other hilltopper to score in double-digits for the game with 17 points. They were without their leading scorer and preseason player of the year Alexis Govan due to a foot injury.
The Jags will host first-year SBC member Georgia State at the Mitchell Center on Saturday with tipoff set for 2:05pm.
Rubit Sets New SBC Rebounding Record As Jags Fall To New Mexico State
Senior Augustine Rubit set the all-time Sun Belt Conference rebounding record against New Mexico State on Saturday night.
South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit broke the all-time rebounding record for the Sun Belt Conference, but his team lost to New Mexico State 82-64 as four Aggies scored in double-digits.
NMSU started quickly by jumping out to a 13-5 lead in the first four minutes of the game and never looked back. The Aggies got a game-high 18-points from Daniel Mullings and 65 total points from their five starting players. They shot 63.5% from the floor, the most allowed by the Jaguars this season. They shot 68% in the second half alone.
In the second half, Mychal Ammons completed a three-point play in the Jaguars first possession of the second half and cut the Aggie lead to eight, but NMSU would score 11 of the next 12 points in a stretch of 1:29 to go up by 18 points.
The Jaguars would try to fight back and would get within 10 points on three difference occasions, but the Aggies would have an answer each time.
Augustine Rubit and Antoine Allen were the only Jaguars to score in double-digits with 11 and 10 points respectively. Rubit finished with a team-high six rebounds. Freshman Aakim Saintil added nine points, seven of them after halftime, and had four assists.
“I think it’s an unbelievable individual achievement. To be the leading rebounder in a conference’s history really says something about how great of a rebounder he is,” Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said after the game. “I know he’s disappointed about his game tonight but with the way he rebounds the basketball, he’s going to have better games than this.”
“I thought we started off the game very timid, for whatever reason,” Graves explained. “We weren’t very assertive and attacking. We missed a wide open ‘3’ early, Augustine went 0-for-3 at the free-throw line and we allowed our lack of production on the offensive end on the floor to affect how we guarded. There were stretches where New Mexico State was trying to allow us an opportunity to get back in the game a few times and we didn’t take advantage of it. Ultimately when you allow a team to shoot 63.5 percent from the flield, you’re not going to win those type of games.”
“Certainly they’re talented and I don’t want to take anything away from them but at some point, you’ve got to have enough pride in guarding your own man and deciding enough’s enough when you continue to get scored on and not allow it to happen again,” Graves said. “It was tied to how bad we were playing offensively and we really let that dictate our energy and effort on the defensive end of the floor.”
“If we’re wanting to win championships, and that’s what we want this program to be about, we’ve got to focus more on the defensive end. For the most part this year we’ve done a good job defensively, but tonight was a very bad outing for us.”
Saintil earned his first career start while Jaguar point guards combined for seven assists and no turnovers. The team’s six turnover were a season low, but the Jags 24 rebounds and -14 rebounding margin were also season lows for the game.
USA hopes that their tough road non-conference schedule this season will pay dividends during conference play. The Jags will open conference play at home when they host rival Western Kentucky on Thursday evening with tipoff scheduled for 5:05 PM at the Mitchell Center.
Jags Travel To New Mexico State For Final Non-Conference Game Of Season
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team are on the road on Saturday as they face New Mexico State in Las Cruces, New Mexico for an 8pm CST tipoff. This is the Jaguars final non-conference game of the season.
USA is 6-6 on the season but 0-5 on the road this season are hoping to get their first road win before starting their conference schedule. New Mexico State is 10-5 on the season and 5-1 at home. The Jags will have their hands full as the Aggies have two tall post players, 7’5″ Sim Bhullar and 6’11” Tshilidzi Nephawe. Renaldo Dixon also stands 6’10” for the Aggies.
The Aggies have five players averaging almost 10 points per game. Daniel Mullings leads the team in scoring with an average of 16.6 per outing and 3.9 rebounds per game. D.K. Eldridge averages 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, K.C. Ross-Miller averages 9.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, Nephawe averages 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and Bhullar averages 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
This will be the first game in a week for the Jaguars. In their last outing they lost to the University of Arkansas, but were within three points in the second half before the razorbacks surge turned the Jaguar rally away. They then had the week off for Christmas.
USA is averaging 73.2 points per game while allowing 67.1 points per game to opponents. NMSU averages 74.7 points per game whiel allowing 70.1 points per game.
South Alabama head basketball coach Matthew Graves is looking to see more consistent effort on both ends of the floor. He has been working with the team to get them to make the extra pass and to get into the paint. They have been shooting well in the first half from outside the three-point arc, but the season has been a tale of two halves. The Jags need a more consistent effort from the players on the floor scoring as well.
The Jaguars and Aggies tipoff at 8pm on Saturday. Play-by-play can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP and www.WNSP.com.
Go Jags!