Game Notes

Game 24 • South Alabama Jaguars (10-13, 4-8) at North Texas Mean Green (16-8, 5-6)
Feb. 17, 2011 • 7 p.m. • The Super Pit (10,500) • Denton, Texas

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Ronnie Arrow (Southwest Texas State, 1969)
Record at USA: 187-141 (12th year)
Overall Record: 321-232 (20th year)
Record vs. North Texas: 3-3

North Texas
Johnny Jones (LSU, 1985)
Record at North Texas: 166-129 (10th year)
Overall Record: 181-145 (11th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama lost at home to Troy 72-59. A 24-point deficit was too much for North Texas to overcome at Western Kentucky 87-76.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars complete their final regular-season road trip Sunday at Denver. The Mean Green host Louisiana at Monroe Saturday.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)

RANKINGS (Through Feb. 14)
USA: #302 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #302 Sagarin
NT: #136 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #172 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 13-5.

Current streak: USA, Lost 1
USA’s last win in series: 68-65 (2/5/09)
Last meeting: North Texas 86, South Alabama 78 (1/21/10)
USA’s last win at The Super Pit: 89-67 (1/28/06)
NT’s last win at The Super Pit: 86-78 (1/21/10)
USA’s record at The Super Pit: 5-4
USA’s road streak: Lost 2
USA’s longest winning / losing streak in series: 6 / 2

Notes: North Texas’s win in 2008 ended USA’s 13-game win streak… The last four games in the series have been decided by eight points or less… South Alabama’s six-game win streak in the series spanned 2004-07… The Mean Green have won two of three–both at home–since dropping six straight to the Jags… USA averaged 86 points during that streak.

OPENING TIP
Only two of South Alabama’s 10 wins have come when the team scores less than 80 points. The Jaguars average 81.0 points in wins and have outscored the opposition by an average of 14.8 points.

The Jags are 0-3 against the Sun Belt West this season.

South Alabama’s loss to Troy was the first home Sun Belt game decided by double-digits since Feb. 6, 2010 vs. Middle Tennessee, a span of eight games.

USA’s last two opponents have each shot 66.7% from the floor in the second half. Troy’s shooting percentage of 57.1% is the highest by a Jaguar opponent all year.

The Jaguars forced 17 turnovers and totaled a season-high 13 steals vs. Troy, getting four each from Martino Brock and Allyn Cooks. The 13 steals are almost double the team’s total from the previous two games combined (seven).

Gary Redus had one of the Jags’ three blocks Thursday, extending his streak to seven straight games with a rejection, the longest current run on the team. The Jaguars rank second in the conference in blocks per game (5.1).

North Texas leads the league in scoring (78.0 ppg) by five points per game. The Mean Green have four players averaging over 10 ppg and boast the league’s leading scorer in Tristan Thompson (17.4 ppg).

The Mean Green’s four-game losing streak comes after a 16-4 start. NT had not lost back-to-back contests prior to that. Three of the four losses came on the road where North Texas is 4-7 on the season, compared to 12-1 in the Super Pit.

George Odufuwa (10.9 ppg, 10.0 rpg) and Augustine Rubit (12.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg) are the only two players in the league to average a double-double per game. Odufuwa had 16 points and 16 rebounds in last year’s meeting with South Alabama.

Rubit grabbed 13 rebounds last week for the second straight game and currently sits atop the SBC leaderboard at 11.2 rpg. He has led the team in rebounding in 17 of the last 18 games and has grabbed 11 or more boards in six of his last seven outings. He is tied for the league lead in double-doubles with 11 which ranks second in Division I among all freshman.