MOBILE, Ala. --- A national television audience will be tuning in Wednesday when the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team and UALR clash in the Mitchell Center.

Wednesday will serve as the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams and will be a rematch of a Sun Belt Tournament semifinal game in March. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:05 p.m.

The game will be televised live on ESPN2. Viewers can also watch online at espn360.com and subscribers to Jaguar Nation can watch at USAJaguars.com. The radio broadcast can be accessed at www.wnsp.com.

South Alabama enters the contest with a 7-3 record but is coming off a 66-54 loss at home to Southern Miss Saturday night. The defeat ended a four-game winning streak.

UALR, the defending Sun Belt West Division champions, are 4-6, but the six losses are to teams with a combined 42-10 record, an .807 winning percentage.

“It’s going to be a very physical game,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “They teach and stress defense and rebounding, and we feel we do the same. We need to go out and execute and we have to get buckets in transition.”

The Trojans have two players in double-digit scoring: Solomon Bozeman (15.5 ppg) and Matt Mouzy (11.8 ppg). The pair are largely responsible for the team ranking second in 3-point percentage (39.9%) and third in 3-pointers per game (6.99). They have combined for 42 of UALR’s 69 trifectas and teammate Ricky Davison is second in the SBC in 3-point percentage (52.4%).

“They’re one of the top 3-point shooting teams and most of that is coming from two players – Bozeman and Mouzy,” said Arrow. “We have to stop those two guys. They’re a large portion of their offense.”

USA junior Tim Williams leads the team in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). His rebounding average is third-best in the league and he grabbed nine boards his last time out vs. Southern Miss, despite missing the last six minutes with an ankle injury.

 “We ask a lot of Tim,” Arrow said. “He’s our leading rebounder and leading scorer. He’s got to be able to go in there and do his thing. He’s a tough kid and we expect him to be ready to go.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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