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
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!
Jags picked second in SBC
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.
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!