Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – The last time the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team lost three straight, it snapped the skid and went on to win its next game as well. Sunday, the Jaguars ended a three-game streak in spectacular fashion on a layup by Augustine Rubit in the final seconds and will go for two in a row Thursday against Florida Atlantic.

The Jaguars (11-9, 3-6 Sun Belt) and Owls clash Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. in the Mitchell Center. The game can be heard on WNSP 105.5 FM and www.wnsp.com. Subscribers to Jaguars All-Access can watch live on USAJaguars.com. There will also be updates via live stats, twitter (@USAJaguarSports) and live chat.

FAU (9-12, 5-3 Sun Belt) enters the contest winners of four of its last five games, including three in a row, and won the last two by a combined three points. In addition, the Owls have won the last two meetings against the Jags, sweeping the season series last year for the first time.

“They do a good job of running their stuff; they’re disciplined,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We’ve got to be able to push the ball and score in transition. We have to outrebound them. They have the ability inside to be able to rebound with you. If you don’t box them out, they can rebound. When we were playing at our best, we were outrebounding people by a wide margin. We have to get back to that.”

The Owls’ Greg Gantt is the third-leading scorer in the Sun Belt at 14.3 points per contest, but was held to just seven points last week at Western Kentucky, his lowest output in Sun Belt play this season. In five career games against South Alabama, he averages 15.2 points.

“We have to keep him from getting wide open shots,” Arrow said. “He’s such a good shooter. If he’s hot, he can run off seven to nine 3s in a matter of minutes.”

While Gantt does a good portion of the scoring, according to Arrow it is junior guard Raymond Taylor that is in USA’s sights. Taylor is second on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and second in the Sun Belt Conference in assists per game (5.2).

“Number one, we’ve got to stop Raymond Taylor,” Arrow commented. “He makes that team go, although for whatever reason, he’s been coming off the bench this season. He’s the one that gets into the lane and gets Gantt open. He probably gets Gantt six to 10 points per game just by penetrating and getting him open. It all starts with stopping his penetration.

“He is one of the quickest guards in the country that gets all of his guys open. He can get you to commit on his drive and then hit the open guy for an easy jumper or layup.”

South Alabama’s 68 points against Troy were its most since last picking up a win on Jan. 14 and not coincidentally, its 16 assists rank as the team’s best since Dec. 22 against San Diego.

“We got those points out of our transition game,” Arrow said. “We have stressed transition points lately and we should have gotten more than we did in the second half. We have to continue to do that and run to get easy buckets so we can score the amount of points we need.”

Not only did Rubit tally the game-winning points Sunday, he also grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, including 14 on the defensive end. Since being held to eight points and eight boards vs. Middle Tennessee, he is averaging 20.0 points and 13.5 rebounds.

“He seems to start out every game slowly as far as getting himself active,” noted Arrow. “Truthfully, I think he should be doing that a bunch. Some of the other guys have to pick up the slack—he’s getting double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed. They have to rebound or score when they’re left open so it opens up more for Aug so he can do more for us.”

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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