THE COACHESSouth Alabama
Ronnie Arrow (Southwest Texas State, 1969)
Record at USA: 172-123 (11th year)
Overall Record: 306-214 (19th year)
Record vs. Troy: 5-2
Troy
Don Maestri (Southern Miss, 1969)
Record at Troy: 466-336 (28th year)
Overall Record: Same
LAST GAMESouth Alabama allowed a 13-0 run in the final few minutes in a 70-59 loss to FAU. Troy dominated Louisiana at Monroe 75-56.
NEXT GAMEThe Jaguars travel to New Orleans on Thursday. The Trojans are also on the road, playing at Middle Tennessee.
ON THE AIRRadio: 105.5 FM WNSP in Mobile; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio); Jaguar Nation (video)
RANKINGS (through 1/28)USA: #233 RPI, #218 Sagarin
Troy: #183 RPI, #187 Sagarin
THE SERIESUSA leads 9-3.
Current winning streak: South Alabama, 2
Troy’s last win in series: 63-58 (2/28/09)
Last meeting: South Alabama 69, Troy 67 (1/16/10)
Last five games: USA leads 3-2
USA’s last win at Trojan Arena: 90-74 (2/10/08)
Troy’s last win at Trojan Arena: 63-58 (2/28/09)
USA’s record at Trojan Arena: 3-1
USA’s road streak: Lost 1
USA’s longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 2
Notes: Despite the in-state rivals being separated by about 170 miles, the two schools have met just 12 times... All but two of the meetings came after Troy joined the Sun Belt in 2005... South Alabama won the two pre-Sun Belt clashes in 1993 and 1995... USA avenged two regular season defeats last year by winning 78-75 in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals... The Jaguars won the first five games in the series... South Alabama won the first three clashes in Troy before losing last year 63-58... A buzzer-beating shot by Allyn Cooks gave USA a 69-67 victory on Jan. 16.
OPENING TIPSouth Alabama’s win over Troy on Jan. 16 is the Jaguars’ only win in their last seven outings. The last time USA lost six of seven games was the 2004-05 season.
Martino Brock had his double-digit scoring streak end at six games Thursday. He came off the bench for the first time this season to score nine points but had eight rebounds and three assists.
Troy’s Brandon Hazzard has slipped to the second-leading scorer in the conference at 16.8 ppg after tallying a total of five points in his last two outings.
The Trojans’ Michael Vogler leads the conference in steals (2.1 pg) and assist/turnover ratio (2.5), and is second in assists (5.8). He had seven assists and just one turnover vs. USA on Jan. 16. He became Troy’s all-time Division I leader in assists on Thursday.
Gary Redus returned to the lineup Thursday for the first time since injuring his knee vs. WKU on Jan. 7. He had nine points, three rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes of work.
South Alabama has allowed an average of 12.0 3-pointers in its last two games. Troy is tied for the team lead in the Sun Belt in 3s per game (7.8) and has averaged 9.5 treys in its last two games.
Tim Williams, USA’s leading scorer (14.9) and rebounder (7.3) has reached double-digit scoring in his last 10 games (longest stretch of the season), including three 20-point games, averaging 17.3 ppg over that stretch.
Williams is one of two players (Tyren Johnson-ULL) who ranks in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in both scoring and rebounding.
Philip Tabet set a new career high in rebounds Thursday with 10 and tied his personal best with eight points.
