Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – The Mitchell Center will be the site of five basketball games over a three-day period this weekend when the University of South Alabama men's basketball program hosts a CBE Hall of Fame Classic regional Friday-Sunday.

The festivities will begin Friday afternoon with Wright State vs. Houston Baptist at 4 p.m., followed by South Alabama vs. Southern Miss at 7:05 p.m. On Saturday, the Jaguars take on Wright State at 1:05 p.m. while Southern Miss and Houston Baptist clash at 3:05 p.m. The lone contest on Sunday will be South Alabama vs. Houston Baptist at 2:05 p.m.

USA's game on Friday can be heard only on WNSP.com but the final two games of the weekend will be broadcast on 105.5 FM in Mobile. A live videostream of all three South Alabama games will be shown online at USAJaguars.com and in-game updates will provided on Twitter (@SouthAlaMBK) and live stats.

"First and foremost, we're excited that we get three straight home games here to get our fans involved," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We've had a good week of practice here. Anytime you can play at home it's a good thing. To have three quality opponents in Southern Miss, Wright State and Houston Baptist back-to-back-to-back, they'll all test us in different ways, so I'm encouraged by that."

South Alabama (2-1) rebounded from a disappointing loss at Texas last week with a comfortable 76-53 win over William Carey on Monday. The Jaguars trailed just once in the game and held William Carey to 35.1 percent shooting.

"What it showed is we can bounce back from a loss and also get better," Graves said. "We really wanted to focus on our transition defense and against William Carey, we did a great job of getting back and setting our defense. We need to continue to get better and Southern Miss will be a great test for us."

Career nights from two freshmen helped the USA cause against the Crusaders. Ken Williams (Manvel, Texas) snapped an 0-for-14 cold streak from 3-point land and made three of his four attempts from beyond the arc for a career-best 11 points, while T.J. Johnson (Tamarac, Fla.) came off the bench to shoot 5-for-7 from the floor and hit both of his 3-point attempts for 12 points.

"I think any time you play well, whether it's a freshman, sophomore or a senior, you gain that confidence and the more game action you can get, you get more comfortable," Graves stated. "As our system and as the year goes, I look for more guys to get in a better flow and become more comfortable, where we don't have as many lulls throughout the game. I'm really encouraged, especially with those two freshmen."

Southern Miss enters Friday with a 3-0 mark and are in the midst of a four-game road trip. USM has back-to-back road wins at DePaul (75-68) and North Dakota State (70-69), and are looking to extend their three-game win streak against USA.

"I really like the way they play," Graves said. "Coach (Donnie) Tyndall does a great job of getting their guys to play extremely hard. They have a unique system where they play mostly zone and press back into zone, so that will test our patience; we need to be patient against their zone and we need to take great shots. But at the same time we're going to have to be very physical; they're an outstanding team on the defensive glass, so we need to do a great job there."

Graves is familiar with Wright State and head coach Billy Donlon, having faced him previously as a member of the Horizon League when Graves was an assistant coach at Butler. The Raiders are 2-0 at home but winless away from home, having dropped an 88-70 decision to Georgetown with an 81-72 defeat to DePaul. WSU went 23-13 a season ago and advanced to the CIT semifinals.

"Coach Donlon does a great job of getting his guys to play hard as well. They execute at such a high level on the offensive end of the floor. They're going to put you in tough situations with their ball-screen offense and their ability to drive the basketball and get to the rim and get fouled. We're going to have to do a great job of communicating defensively."

South Alabama has never lost to Houston Baptist in six previous meetings and met four straight seasons from 2007-10. The Huskies, a former member of the now-defunct Great West Conference, are new members of the Southland Conference and are currently 1-2 after an 89-61 loss at Texas.

"I'm really looking forward to that third game against Houston Baptist because we're hoping it simulates us playing in a conference championship scenario, where you play two games and you don't get as much prep for that third game where you're going to have to be ready," said Graves. "Houston Baptist is going to mix in some man and zone so we're going to have to take the good and bad from Friday and Saturday see what we have left over on Sunday. It'll be a great challenge for the guys."

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).

—USA—