Game Notes

Game 26 • South Alabama Jaguars (15-10, 7-7) at Florida Atlantic Owls (11-16, 7-7)
February 23, 2012 • 7 p.m. EST • FAU Arena (5,000) • Boca Raton, Fla.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Ronnie Arrow (Southwest Texas State, 1969)
Record at USA: 204-154 (13th year)
Overall Record: 338-245 (21st year)
Record vs. Florida Atlantic: 7-3

Florida Atlantic
Mike Jarvis (Northeastern, 1968)
Record at FAU: 52-69 (4th year)
Overall Record: 371-270 (23rd year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama used a late 18-5 run to defeat Western Kentucky 66-61 in its home finale. Florida Atlantic fell 72-59 at SBC East leader Middle Tennessee.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars close out the regular season Saturday at Florida International. The Owls end the year at home vs. Troy.

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

RANKINGS (Through Feb. 19)
USA: #175 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #191 Sagarin
FAU: #172 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #177 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 8-4.

Current winning streak: USA, Won 1
FAU’s last win in series: 74-64 (2/27/11)
Last meeting: South Alabama 65, Florida Atlantic 56 (2/2/12)
USA’s last win at FAU Arena: 96-93 OT (1/2/10)
FAU’s last win at FAU Arena: 65-57 (1/6/11)
USA’s record at FAU Arena: 3-2
USA’s road streak: Lost 1
USA’s longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 2

Notes: The 12 meetings are tied for the fewest against any USA Sun Belt opponent… South Alabama rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to win 96-93 in OT in Boca Raton in 2009-10… It was just the second game in the series decided by single digits to that point… Each school won on the other’s home floor in 2009-10 and USA won the rubber match with a 52-51 win in the SBC Tournament… FAU ended a five-game losing streak in the series by winning 70-59 Jan. 28, 2010 in Mobile… The Owls won two straight over the Jags for the first time in the  series’ history, thanks to a season sweep last year.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama needs two Sun Belt wins to reach the 300-win plateau.

Ronnie Arrow is three SBC victories away from setting a new league record for career conference wins. He can tie Gene Bartow with 111 wins with a sweep of FAU and FIU to end the season.

USA has won three straight Sun Belt games for the first time since opening the 2009-10 season 3-0.

South Alabama has six wins this year when trailing by 10 points or more at any point in the game, including two in a row and three in the last five games. Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, the Jags have rallied from down 10 or more to win 14 times.

The Jaguars shot 37.1 percent in the win over Western Kentucky Saturday, their lowest field goal percentage in a win this season. They also won a Sun Belt game when being outshot for the first time in 2011-12 (1-6).

Thanks to Augustine Rubit’s 10 points and 13 rebounds and Javier Carter’s 10 points and personal-best 10 boards, South Alabama had two players record a double-double in the same game for the second time this year (Rubit and Antione Lundy vs. Georgia Southern). The Jags last had that happen in an SBC game in 2009-10. Rubit is tied for the SBC lead in double-doubles with North Texas’ Tony Mitchell (9).

Rubit snapped a career-high-tying four-game streak without a double-double against the Hilltoppers and the 13 rebounds are his most since Jan. 29 vs. Troy. He moved up to ninth on USA’s career rebounding list (534) in less than two seasons. He is 11 away from Andy Denny in eighth.

In three career games vs. FAU, Rubit averages 12.0 points and 11.0 boards, and has reached double-digits in rebounds in each game.

In addition to his double-double, Carter blocked eight shots, one shy of the school record and a new career high. He moved from sixth to third in USA’s single-season history on Saturday and has 66 on the year. He leads the SBC (2.9 bpg) and is 14th in the nation. He has two of the school’s top eight single-game performances this season.

With 15 of his game-high 17 points vs. WKU coming after halftime, Mychal Ammons has scored in double-digits for three straight games for the first time in his young career. Eight of his points came in the last 5:41, helping the Jaguars rally from an eight-point deficit. He is averaging 18.7 points in his last three outings (all wins), including a career-high 25 on Feb. 9 against Arkansas State. A large part of his success during that span is due to his performance at the foul line, as he has converted 22 of 25 (88.0%) at the stripe and is 11th in the league in FT percentage (74.4%).

Also excelling during USA’s winning streak is Dallas Jones, who is averaging 10.0 points and shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from 3-point land. He has converted 50 percent or better on his field goals nine times in the last 10 games.