Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – With a week off to recharge their batteries, the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team welcomes longtime rival Western Kentucky to the Mitchell Center Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

The Jaguars and Hilltoppers will tip off at 7:05 p.m. The game can be seen online for free at ESPN3.com and by subscribers of Jaguars All-Access, heard on 105.5 FM WNSP and WNSP.com, and followed via live stats on USAJaguars.com or Twitter @SouthAlaMBK. It will also be televised on ESPN’s Full Court package.

The Jaguars are coming off a 71-56 win over Louisiana at Monroe last Thursday that improved their overall record to 9-8 and their Sun Belt Conference mark to 6-3, good for sole possession of second place in the East Division.

“The break has been good for us,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “It’s a little different not playing on Saturday, but it gave us a chance to regroup and work on some things in practice that we haven’t been able to do, and be able to tweak some things on both ends of the floor, so it’s been good for us there. It’s been good for us to get some rest as well.”

USA won its first two games this season after a break of a week or more, but lost the last one, a 63-54 setback to Arkansas State on Dec. 29.

“We broke up our off days so we weren’t off too much in a row,” Price said. “You always have that concern that Western played on Saturday and we have to play after not playing for a week. Hopefully once the game starts we’ll get that out of the way.”

South Alabama will hope to take advantage of a slumping Western Kentucky squad that has lost four of its last five outings, including twice during a three-game homestand that preceded the trip to Mobile. The Hilltoppers (11-9, 5-4 SBC) started the season 8-2 but have gone 3-7 since then.

“Their obviously a good team and losing Jamal Crook really hurt them,” Price said. “They’ve had to get their chemistry back together and find the answer at the point (guard position) and I think they’ve found that now. They’re certainly a capable basketball team and a well-coached team that has guys that are very worthy, all-conference type players.”

WKU will be without Crook, the team’s leading scorer, who hasn’t played since Dec. 16 because of an injury. Crook, who racked up 24 points on 9 of 10 shooting against USA last season in Bowling Green, averages 14.5 points per game.

“They’re not quite as quick and athletic (without him),” Price noted. “He’s tremendous with the ball, pushing the ball in transition and very athletic so it makes them a little bit different.”

Taking over the scoring load in Crook’s absence is T.J. Price, who is second on the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg, and Brandon Harris, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week. Harris averaged 19.0 points last week, including 22 against Arkansas at Little Rock.

“Harris is a very capable shooter; he’s a streaky shooter, but when he shoots it well he’s really good,” Price said. “He takes care of the ball well and T.J. Price is a go-to guy that shoots the ball well from the outside and gets to the basket well. George Fant has been tremendous for them around the paint.”

The Jaguars’ Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) scored 23 points vs. ULM a week ago, his sixth 20-point outing in his last nine games. He is second in the conference in scoring (19.3 ppg) and first in rebounding (10.9 rpg).

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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