Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – Louisiana at Lafayette brings its three-game winning streak to the Mitchell Center Sunday to take on the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team at 4:05 p.m. in a televised contest.

The game will be broadcast on the Sun Belt Network, seen locally in Mobile on CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast), and online at ESPN3.com. Mike Morgan and Dave Odom will call the action. Only viewers outside of the Sun Belt Network broadcast area (Southeast US) can watch online.

Fans can listen in Mobile on 105.5 WNSP with Lee Shirvanian and Pat Greenwood on the mic. An audiostream will be available on WNSP.com and a videostream can be viewed by Jaguar Athletics All-Access subscribers at USAJaguars.com.

Sunday will be K-12 Student Appreciation game which means all K-12 students in Mobile and Baldwin County get free admission into both games.

The South Alabama coaching staff will also be participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend.

South Alabama (9-10, 3-5 Sun Belt) counters Louisiana at Lafayette’s (6-14, 3-5) streak with two straight wins and has averaged 84.5 points in defeating FIU and Troy. The back-to-back wins are a first since Dec. 27.

“This is the time of year that you need to be playing well and getting better and better, and hopefully that’s how it’ll play out for us,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow, who will try to become the third coach in Sun Belt history to win 100 league games. “We’ve been doing some good stuff lately and different guys have been stepping up at different times to help us win games. That’s important at this time of year.”

The team’s scoring average in its last two wins is the highest in consecutive conference games since February 2008. The Jags posted 41 points in the first half Thursday at Troy thanks to eight 3-pointers. USA averaged just 63.2 points in the previous six games prior to the Florida International game on Jan. 22.

“We’re making 3s, getting easy buckets and being patient on offense,” Arrow said. “(Thursday) we shot 41 percent (41.7) from the 3s. Three-pointers can either get you into a game really quick or get you out of a game really quick. We thought we had 3-point shooters and now they’re starting to fall for us. Hopefully we’ll get better and better at the 3-point shooting.”

The Jaguars got 32 of their 83 points Thursday from senior Gary Redus (Decatur, Ala.) who exploded for a career-high scoring night. He nailed seven 3-pointers, tied for fifth in school history, in just eight attempts. Redus had no more than one trifecta in any game this year.

“I don’t know where it came from but I hope he has a bunch more just like it,” said Arrow. “That’s what we need to have. We had a couple of guys that didn’t have a good game, so ‘G’ and Allyn (Cooks) and some of the rest of the guys picked them up and we were able to win the game.”

The Ragin’ Cajuns lost 11 of their first 13 games under first-year head coach Bob Marlin but have won four of seven since, including the season-long win streak.

“They’re very talented,” Arrow said. “Bob is a very good coach but it’s taken him awhile to get his scheme going and get the players to believe in his scheme. Now he has them playing well. Their record is not because of a lack of talent—they have as much talent as anyone in this league and now he’s getting them to buy in to what he wants done as a coach.”

ULL ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in scoring average (72.1 ppg) but does not have a single player that ranks in the league’s top 30 (Josh Brown averages 12.8 ppg but has not played in the minimum amount of games). But the Ragin’ Cajuns have eight players averaging 7.1 points per contest (the Jags have five).

“They have about nine guys that are scoring,” said Arrow. “Certain guys on their team can have big nights so whenever you’re playing nine guys and they’re all capable of scoring, it causes problems. You hope that you can get them out of their scheme and make them make mistakes.”

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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