Official Game Statistics
MOBILE, Ala. ? South Alabama broke a 31-31 tie midway through the first half with a 16-2 run, helping the Jaguars to their 10th straight victory, 85-73 over Florida International in front of a season-high 6,953 Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. Combined with Dayton's loss to Massachusetts, USA's active victory streak is tied for fifth-longest in the country.
Demetric Bennett finished with 30 points, the second time this season he has topped that mark, by hitting 10 of 17 from the field and making eight of nine free throws. Daniel Hayles posted his season high of 11 points, while adding a team-season best five steals, and DeAndre Coleman chipped in 10. FIU (5-11, 2-4 SBC) was led offensively by Kenneth White’s 22 points.
South Alabama (14-3, 6-0 SBC) jumped out to an early 9-2 lead on seven points by Bennett, but found itself trailing 26-25 when White hit a three-pointer with 7:58 left in the half. Another White trey tied the game at 31 with 6:51 to play before the Jaguars seized control. Hayles got a pair of fastbreak layups off steals to key an 8-0 run, then answered a Golden Panther score with a three that started another 8-0 surge. Bennett hit a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left that put South Alabama up by 14, 47-33.
FIU closed to within six, 51-45, early in the second half, but Hayles followed a miss for two and made another steal and layup to push the lead back to double figures, 55-45 with 15:22 to play. Nine straight points later pushed a nine-point advantage (61-52) to 70-52. The biggest margin of the game was 23, 79-56, with just over five minutes left before the benches cleared and FIU hit a couple of late shots.
“I think we showed the kind of defense that we want to play tonight,” Head Coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Demetric and Daniel got after it and several of their defensive stops led to layups. Now, I hope we can come to practice and work on free throws, because that seems to be a weakness now.”
South Alabama made 32 of 64 shots from the field (50 percent), but connected on only 16 of 28 (57.1 percent) at the free throw line. The Jaguars were outrebounded for the first time in five games, 44-35, but forced 20 turnovers while committing only 10. FIU finished the contest at 43.5 percent, including making nine three-pointers.
The Jaguars now take their winning streak back on the road, travelling to UALR on Saturday night.
