Game Notes

Game 22 • South Alabama Jaguars (12-9, 4-6) at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (7-15, 3-6)
February 4, 2012 • 7 p.m. • Diddle Arena (7,326) • Bowling Green, Ky.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Ronnie Arrow (Southwest Texas State, 1969)
Record at USA: 201-153 (13th year)
Overall Record: 335-244 (21st year)
Record vs. Western Kentucky: 13-12

Western Ky.
Ray Harper (Kentucky Wesleyan, 1985)
Record at WKU: 2-4 (1st year, Interim)
Overall Record: 343-67 (13th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama finished with a 16-2 run to defeat Florida Atlantic 65-56 Thursday. Western Kentucky survived a poor shooting night to overcome Florida International 61-51 last Saturday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars welcome Arkansas State to Mobile on Thursday. The Hilltoppers play at rival Middle Tennessee.

ON THE AIR
TV: Fox College Sports; Randy Lee (pxp), Hal Schmitt (color)
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)

RANKINGS (Through Feb. 1)
USA: #163 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #195 Sagarin
WKU: #268 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #249 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 31-28.

Current winning streak: South Alabama, 1 win
WKU’s last win in series: 84-75 (1/20/11)
Last meeting: South Alabama 80, WKU 76 (2/3/11)
USA’s last win at Diddle Arena: 80-76 (2/3/11)
WKU’s last win at Diddle Arena: 99-69 (2/18/10)
USA’s record at Diddle Arena: 11-15
USA’s road streak: Won 1
USA’s longest winning / losing streak in series: 6 / 6

Notes: South Alabama snapped a six-game losing streak to WKU—the longest by the Hilltoppers in the series—last season in Bowling Green… WKU also won six straight from Feb. 16, 1985 to Jan. 16, 1988… USA had won the previous three meetings prior to that streak… WKU’s 30-point win in Bowling Green in the 2009-10 season was the biggest win in the series by either school… The previous seven meetings were decided by eight points or less… Since South Alabama won six straight from 1996-98, WKU leads the series 15-10.

OPENING TIP
USA head coach Ronnie Arrow is six wins away from setting a new Sun Belt Conference record for career league wins. He has 106 in 13 seasons.

Trey Anderson tallied a new personal-best assist-to-turnover ratio Thursday with seven points — tying his career high— and one turnover. He also had nine points against Florida Atlantic, shooting 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Augustine Rubit is averaging 15.0 rebounds in his last two games, and reached double-digits for the ninth time this season on Thursday with a game-high 11 boards. His second rebound Saturday will give him 500 for his career. Despite playing less than two seasons, he is 21 rebounds away from reaching the school’s career top 10. Rubit set a new career high with 19 rebounds Sunday vs. Troy. His rebounding total in that game is the most by a player in the Sun Belt this season and his 14 defensive boards are the most by a USA player in 2011-12. He blocked three shots vs. FAU, giving him eight in his last two games.

Rubit leads the Sun Belt in scoring (14.4 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and double-doubles (8).

Javier Carter has not played the last two games due to a foot injury and his status is ‘day-to-day.’ He currently has a streak of 16 games with a block. His average of 3.0 per game leads the Sun Belt and ranks 13th in the nation. He has 57 blocks this season and needs three to tie for fifth in the school’s single-season history. Carter leads the conference’s top blocking team (5.4 bpg).

Freddie Goldstein snapped out of a mini-scoring slump (4.7 ppg over three games) vs. Florida Atlantic with 14 points. He had 10 in the second half alone.

Since entering the starting lineup for the first time on Jan. 29, Antione Lundy is averaging 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. In those two games, he is shooting 55.0% from the floor and has three steals.He tied his career high with 18 points vs. Troy.

After not reaching the 70-percent mark at the free throw line for 10 straight games, the Jags converted 80 percent vs. Florida Atlantic, their best performance since Dec. 11. USA went a perfect 8-for-8 at the stripe in the first half and finished 20-for-25 for the game. South Alabama shot 57.3 percent over the previous five contests.

Since a five-game losing streak that led to the dismissal of head coach Ken McDonald, WKU has won two of its last three games, including a 12-point win over West Division leader UALR.

The Hilltoppers rank last in the SBC in field goal percentage (37.9%) and 3-point percentage (29.8%). Western Kentucky missed its first 15 shots last game vs. FIU but managed to win 61-51.