Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – After almost a month and a half of practices, a scrimmage and an exhibition, the 2013-14 University of South Alabama men's basketball season is finally here.

The Jaguars formally begin the Matthew Graves era Friday night, facing first-time opponent Detroit in the Mitchell Center at 7:05 p.m.

Fans can listen to the game on WNSP.com or watch a live videostream on USA's Jaguars All-Access subscription service. Updates will also be provided via twitter (@SouthAlaMBK) and live stats on USAJaguars.com.

"We're really excited about our opportunity on Friday night to start the season of at home against a very good opponent in Detroit," Graves said. "The nice thing from the exhibition game is we have a lot of stuff we need to get better at, but at the same time, I thought from a defensive standpoint, we played pretty well."

South Alabama goes into Friday's contest with a little bit of momentum gained from its exhibition win over Mobile that saw the Jaguars overcome a slow start to pull out a 65-55 win over their city rivals.

"We learned that offensively we have a long ways to go," Graves noted. "We need to take care of the ball better and we need to play with a little more pace offensively, but at the same time, we've got guys that can turn it up. For example, Augustine (Rubit) really turned it up in the second half and I thought Mychal Ammons played well in the second half, so we have some guys that can turn it up and play at a higher level but we need to show that consistency throughout the entire game."

The Jaguars got the victory despite the offensive struggles thanks to a tenacious defensive effort. The Rams shot just 17.4 percent in the first half on Tuesday—29.1 percent for the game—and converted four times from behind the 3-point arc on 22 attempts (18.2%).

Mobile also committed 20 turnovers and South Alabama blocked 10 shots, more blocks than the Jags had in any game last season.

"We held Mobile to a 29 percent field goal percentage and when you turn the ball over as much as we did, usually teams are getting layups and easy transition baskets, but despite our turnovers we were still able to get back and set our defense most of the night," Graves said. "We made it difficult for them to get open looks, so I was really pleased with that."

As impressive as South Alabama was on one end of the floor, they struggled just as much on the other. The team did shoot 56.5 percent from the floor in the second half, but only 39.6 percent for the game and committed 24 turnovers.

"We forced things that really weren't there," Graves said. "We need to understand that when we come down the floor, we don't need to attack off the first ballscreen or off the first pass. We need to let the offense work for itself a little bit, and the other thing we worked on yesterday in practice was, when we get a defensive stop and go in transition, we need to be opportunistic, but at the same time, it's just not a free-for-all. We had several clips where we really defended for 20-25 seconds and made them take a tough shot and then ran down the floor and either turned it over or took a bad shot ourselves. All that hard work you put into the defensive end of the floor, you wasted on an (offensive) possession. We want to take away a few wasted possessions as possible."

Detroit won 20 games last season and earned a bid to the NIT thanks to the efforts of Ray McCallum, Jr.—son of head coach Ray McCallum—who was drafted 36th overall by the Sacramento Kings in June's NBA draft.

"They're going to come in and they're going to play very hard," Graves stated. "They do a great job defensively of getting out in the passing lanes; they forced 25 turnovers in their two exhibition games so that will be a great challenge for us. They do a great job of going to the offensive glass. Again, two things we emphasize: taking care of the basketball and blocking out are going to be tested right away in game one. Coach McCallum will have those guys ready and we're excited to play them."

The Titans return just one starter and five letterwinners from last year's team and lost their top four scorers, all of whom averaged double-digits in 2012-13. Juwan Howard, Jr. averaged 7.6 points per contest, tops among returnees, while Evan Bruinsma averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

"You're looking at a program; they've been good for years and years," Graves said. "They've got NCAA Tournament appearances and they play in a very good league. They have guys that understand the culture and have a toughness about how they play. Basketball is a little bit different in the Midwest; it's what guys do. So we're going to play a team, even though they've lost a lot of guys, those guys are going to understand how to play, be very tough and very physical. It's going to be a great challenge for our young team on the first night."

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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