Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – After nearly a month’s worth of practices and one exhibition game, the University of South Alabama men’s basketball program is set to tip off the 2012-13 season Friday night against No. 25/24 Florida State.

The Jaguars and Seminoles will face off at 6 p.m. CST at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The game can be heard for free on Jaguars All-Access (USAJaguars.com) or at wnsp.com; Stephen Newhouse and Braden Cheek will be filling in for Lee Shirvanian. It can also be seen online at ESPN3.com with Tom Block and Jacob Ridenhour calling the action. Periodic updates will be provided via Twitter @SouthAlaMBK.

“The time is here,” USA head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “We’ve gotten our exhibitions and scrimmages out of the way. In the exhibition, I thought there was a high level of energy. We didn’t shoot the ball like we wanted, but I thought our defense was really good for this time of the year.”

Florida State, ranked No. 25 in the preseason Associated Press poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, won both of its exhibitions prior to Friday night’s clash. The defending ACC Tournament champions defeated Lincoln Memorial 83-75 Oct. 30 and Saint Leo 65-56 Monday night.

“Florida State is one of the top programs in the nation, year in and year out,” Arrow said. “(Head coach) Leonard (Hamilton) has been able to sustain that every year. For us to play them this early is good and it’ll be interesting to see how far we are against this caliber of a team. They are large—their point guard is 6-foot-3 and their wings are 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-7 and they have two seven-footers. We’re going to have to do a real good job of boxing out and guarding them. I think this is a game where, if we go in with intensity and not in awe of playing an ACC team, we have a chance to redeem ourselves of how we played last year.”

Friday’s contest will be a rematch from last season where the Seminoles held the Jaguars without a 3-pointer in an 80-39 win.

“All the guys know what they did to us last year, but we are the only ones that can go in and rectify that,” said Arrow. “(FSU will) approach our game the same way they approach every game, plus we’re playing at their place. We have to get better every day. Every year they’re one of the top five to eight teams in the country defensively. To beat Florida State, we have to take care of the ball, keep them off of the offensive boards—if we do that then they don’t get extra shots—and we have to do our things and meet the physicality that they’re going to bring.”

South Alabama was victorious in its only exhibition, using a stifling defense to defeat Spring Hill 73-40 Monday. The Jaguars forced 28 turnovers, racking up 15 steals, and scored 20 points off those miscues. The 28 turnovers forced and 15 steals are more than USA had in any game last season.

“It should be a war,” Arrow commented. “I know Leonard takes pride in their defense and we take pride in ours. How much pride we have will depend on how much the guys back from last year bring it, and how much the new guys have learned what it takes at this level.”

Turnovers were also a problem for the Jags as they gave it away 20 times, including 14 in the first half alone. The two primary point guards, junior Dre Conner and senior Freddie Goldstein combined for seven assists and five turnovers.

“One of the major problems that we’ve had in Canada, in scrimmages and exhibition games is turning the ball over too much,” Arrow noted. “We must take more pride in our decision making with the ball. We’re having far too many crazy turnovers. You’re going to have turnovers, especially against a good team. I’d like to average no more than 15, and hopefully 14 or less with the way we play. But we’ve been having 17 to 20, which is far too many. Spring Hill fell back into a 2-3 zone—we shouldn’t have 20 turnovers against a 2-3 zone. We work every day on pressure, going five-against-six and we’ve gotten really good at that, but when the lights go on and we play another school, we’ve got to concentrate on taking care of the ball.”

FSU returns seven letterwinners from last year’s 25-10 team that advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, but just one starter. That one starter is senior Michael Snaer, who averaged 14.0 points and was named the ACC Tournament MVP. He scored just seven points in last season’s meeting.

“He’s one of those long guards that will guard you, he’s able to go by you if you don’t play solid and he’ll go rebound,” Arrow said. “He’s a solid player. He’s a major player in that league. We have to dictate to him what we want him to do and not what he wants to do. He’s one that we’re going to challenge our guys to go and guard. He’s a type of guy that we should take a lot of pride in guarding. He’s one of their leaders.”

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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