DENTON, Texas --- North Texas’s George Odufuwa and Eric Tramiel combined for 41 points and 29 rebounds and the Mean Green dominated the boards in defeating the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team 86-78 Thursday night at The Super Pit.

North Texas improves to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in the Sun Belt Conference while South Alabama loses its fourth in five games to drop to 12-8 and 4-4.

The Mean Green won the rebounding battle 48-31 and pulled down 20 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points.

“Inside guys have been our problem – they’ve hurt us,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We just don’t have the toughness inside to go against other big guys. Our guys are going to have to get more physical and give us more than what we’ve got. Most teams we play are going to have some big guys.”

USA had four players in double-figure points. Junior Tim Williams (Pontiac, Mich.) and senior Bryan Sherrer (Monticello, Ark.) had 20 points each and freshmen Martino Brock (Memphis, Tenn.) and Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) had 13 and 12, respectively. Carter, who was playing near his hometown, set a new career high in points and added two blocks.

The Jaguars led for the first 19 minutes of the first half and opened up an 11-point advantage with 6:20 to go before intermission with seven straight points on back-to-back buckets from freshman DeAndré Hersey (Carrollton, Ala.) and a 3-pointer from Williams.

“We were running,” said Arrow of the key to the team’s early success. “Early we were fresh and only giving them one shot. They were missing and not getting it then all of the sudden they were getting rebounds and doing the things they needed to do. You can’t continue to give the teams we play second shots.”

The Mean Green answered immediately with an 11-0 run, getting eight from Odufuwa and Tramiel and a 3-point play from Josh White. The Jags were held scoreless for 4:05 and eventually the teams went into the break tied at 38-38.

“I thought we wore down,” said Arrow. “We substituted when we were 10 or 11 points up and then they cut it to two. I didn’t go back and substitute as much as I should have. We’re going to have to work some more guys in and do what has to be done.”

An early six-point advantage for the Jaguars was quickly erased by a 7-0 Mean Green spurt that concluded at the 12:41 mark. The teams traded points and the lead over the next few minutes but a 9-0 NT rally gave them a seven-point bulge, forcing USA to play catch-up the rest of the way.

South Alabama would cut the deficit to two on two occasions, but North Texas answered each threat. Sherrer converted a 3-point play with 46 seconds to go, but NT made its last six foul shots while USA went 0-for-4 from the floor with a turnover.

Tramiel ended up with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds while Odufuwa had 16 points and 16 boards. Tristan Thompson scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

The Jaguars wrap up their road swing Saturday afternoon at Denver with a 4 p.m. local start.

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).

NOTES: Sophomore Allyn Cooks (Bryan, Texas) set a new career high with six assists and had just one turnover… South Alabama suffered its first loss when Williams scores 20 or more points (4-1)… Brock has reached double-digit scoring in his last five games… The eight-point difference was the largest margin of victory in the series since Feb. 25, 2006… The previous three contests were decided by a total of six points… It was also the largest point differential in any USA game since Jan. 1… North Texas’s 86 points are the most South Alabama has allowed in a regulation contest this season… NT won the rebounding battle on USA’s end of the floor 20-15 (20 offensive rebounds to 15 defensive rebounds)… The Jaguars committed just 10 turnovers, the second-fewest in a game this season, compared to 19 for the Mean Green.


—USA—