Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team will welcome Georgia Southern to the Mitchell Center Monday for the last home game of the 2011 calendar year.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on WNSP 105.5 FM and seen live on USAJaguars.com. There will also be updates via live stats, twitter (@USAJaguarSports) and live chat.

“Georgia Southern is a team that plays very hard, so we need to show up with the same intensity as they do and more,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We have to keep them off the boards. Last year we outrebounded them by 14 and we need to do that again.”

Monday will mark the fourth game without junior guard Xavier Roberson (Houston, Texas), who is out with a foot injury.  While the Jags (6-3) have felt his absence, it has allowed more playing time for sophomore Dallas Jones (New Market, Ala.), who has averaged 8.3 points, including a career-high 11 Thursday, since joining the starting lineup Dec. 7.

“Dallas is starting to see the importance of his role in helping us win,” said Arrow. “He’s starting to shoot the ball better. The biggest thing with him right now is guarding. We know he can shoot the ball—he’s working hard at it and is getting more open shots. He just has to come ready to guard and rebound.”

Jones hit three of the Jaguars’ season-high seven 3-pointers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on just six attempts. Junior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) had four, the most by a USA player this season, as the Jags made their first five shots from beyond the arc.

Georgia Southern (3-5) opened the month of December with two straight home conference wins before losing at Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 10. The Eagles are 0-4 on the road.

“They play very hard and have good guards,” Arrow said. “They’re going to defend and deny you the ball. We have to get ourselves open and be aggressive with the ball. We’d like to be aggressive so we can get them to foul us with handchecks while we’re penetrating and getting to the hole.”

GSU’s three wins are over half of what they had all of last season (five). The team is averaging 3.2 more points per game and allowing 6.5 fewer points than in 2010-11. USA rallied from a 13-point deficit at halftime last year in Statesboro to win by 10.

“They’re older and more mature this year,” Arrow noted. “They had a lot of freshmen last year and a couple of kids that sat out that are helping them.”

The Eagles rely heavily on the play of sophomore Eric Ferguson, who leads the team in both scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). He scored 19 points his last time out vs. EKU on 9-for-9 shooting from the floor.

“We have to understand that he’s a very good player,” Arrow said. “In the past, we’ve shown up not knowing our game plan and letting important players get loose.”

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

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