Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – Winners of four of their last five games, the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team will go for its 10th Sun Belt Conference win of the season Thursday night in the Mitchell Center against in-state rival Troy.

The Jaguars and Trojans will tip off at 7:05 p.m. The game can be seen online 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.

While the Jags have lost just once since Jan. 12, Troy enters Thursday’s contest having won three of its last four outings, including a 19-point victory over Louisiana at Lafayette on Saturday and two overtime wins.

“Troy’s playing really well coming in—there’s no doubt—they beat a very good Arkansas State team and they just beat Louisiana-Lafayette by 19, so we know they’ll come in here ready to play,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “Our team is playing well also. I really like the way we’re playing on the defensive end. It’ll be an interesting matchup: two teams that are playing well right now, one that can really shoot the ‘3’ and one that really needs to get out and defend the ‘3.’”

Guarding the 3-point line will be paramount for the Jaguars Thursday as Troy has attempted more from behind the arc than any other team in the conference. While the Trojans make only 32.0 percent from distance—eighth in the SBC—they rank second in the league with 7.0 treys made per contest.

“They really try to spread the floor and get you off the dribble, and make you commit and kick out to shooters,” Price said. “It all starts with guarding the ball. We need to do a good job of guarding the basketball so they can’t break us down off the dribble and then you don’t have to step out and help so much.”

Troy’s biggest strength will be going up against one of the hottest 3-point defenses in the Sun Belt. The Jags have allowed their last six opponents to convert just 24.5 percent from behind the arc and hit 3.8 triples per game. USA has not permitted a team to shoot better than 30 percent on 3-pointers since Louisiana at Lafayette on Jan. 10.

“We’ve done a good job of guarding the ball and not having to break down and help so much. We’ve been pressuring well also at the same time. Just overall defensively I think our team has improved tremendously over the last few weeks and I think our guys have bought in on how we need to play and they’ve done a really nice job.”

USA junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) needs 13 rebounds to tie for 14th place in Sun Belt history for career rebounds, and if recent history against Troy is any indication, he should get it. Rubit has grabbed 13 or more rebounds five times against the Trojans in his career and had 19—tying his career high—last season in Mobile.

“They do a lot of switching defenses,” Price said of Troy. “They play some zone which leaves gaps in the defense for him to get into and they switch a lot in their man-to-man which means sometimes he has smaller guys on him. Aug pretty much rebounds well against anybody, but he has been exceptional against them and I think those are probably the reasons.”

Rubit is averaging 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in his last two games. He ranks second in the league in scoring (19.0 ppg) and double-doubles (12), and first in rebounding (10.8 rpg).

Troy’s offense is very balanced, with only one player—Emil Jones at 10.9—averaging double-figure scoring.

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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