Game Notes

Game 20 • South Alabama Jaguars (7-12, 1-5) at Texas-Arlington Mavericks (8-10, 3-3)
January 25, 2014 • 7:30 p.m. • College Park Center (7,000) • Arlington, Texas

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 7-12 (1st year)
Overall Record: 7-12 (1st year)
Record vs. Texas-Arlington: 0-0

UT Arlington
Scott Cross (Texas-Arlington, 1988)
Record at UTA: 130-106 (9th year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama let a seven-point halftime lead slip away in a 64-58 loss to Louisiana-Monroe. Texas-Arlington got a 3-pointer from Reger Dowell with 5.7 seconds left to defeat Troy 59-56.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars stay on the road Thursday for a game at Georgia State. The Mavericks travel to Western Kentucky.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)

RANKINGS (through Jan. 23)
USA: #267 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #214 Sagarin
UTA: #219 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #225 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 5-0.

Current winning streak: South Alabama, 5 wins
UTA's last win in series: N/A
Last meeting: South Alabama 56, UTA 52 (12/30/03)
USA's last win at the College Park Center: N/A
USA's last win in Arlington: 87-79 (12/17/77)
UTA's last win in Arlington: N/A
USA's record in Arlington: 1-0
USA's road streak: Won 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 0

Notes: The last game between the two schools was in 2003 and the one prior to that was in 1981… Four of the five meetings have been decided by eight points or less and the last two by a total of seven points… USA and UTA have met twice on neutral floors: in 1972 in Statesboro, Ga. and in 2003 in Tampa, Fla.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama's game on Saturday will be the 1,300th in school history.

The meeting with Texas-Arlington will be the first between the two schools since 2003 and the second since the 1981 NIT.

USA is 0-6 in road games and 0-2 in neutral sites this season.

After committing 26 turnovers vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, the most by the program since the 2001-02 season, the Jags had just 10 against Louisiana-Monroe. USA has committed 11 or fewer miscues in four of their last five outings.

South Alabama's shooting percentages have been in concert with its turnover totals over the last five outings. In the games where the Jags turn the ball over 11 times or fewer, their shooting percentage is no better than 34.5. Against ULL, the team had 26 turnovers, but shot 59.2 percent, its best since Jan. 8, 2009.

The Jaguars have held each of their first six Sun Belt opponents to at least 4.2 points under their average entering the game with two held to 10 points or more (WKU 10.3, ULL 12.0).

Augustine Rubit averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds last week, including a 21-point performance in the ULL win. He recorded his eighth double-double of the season vs. UL Monroe with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He moved into 23rd place in Sun Belt history for career points (1,706) against ULM. If he scores 20 points Saturday, he will move into a tie for fourth place in school history and will jump up to 20th in the league record books.

Rubit's double-double was the 50th in his career, which is the most among all active Division I players. He needs two more to tie Terry Catledge for the most at South Alabama.

Rubit set his third school record against ULL this season, becoming the Jaguars' all-time leader in free throw attempts. He previously set new school marks for rebounds and free throws made. He is third among active DI players in both free throws made (502) and attempted (690).

Aakim Saintil posted his third straight double-digit scoring game vs. ULM with 11 points. His current streak is the longest in his young career and he's averaging 12.0 points during that stretch.

Texas-Arlington's Reger Dowell leads the Sun Belt and is 12th in the nation in scoring at 21.6 points per game. He is also fifth in the country with 3.75 3-pointers per game.

Dowell missed two games with a leg injury but returned Jan. 18 vs. Texas State and came off the bench to score 22 points Thursday vs. Troy, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left.

Saturday will match up two of the top three rebounders in the conference. Rubit is second at 9.9 per game and Brandon Edwards is third with 9.5 per contest. Rubit has a league-best 10.7 rebounding average in SBC games only. Edwards and Rubit are tied for 21st in Division I and second in the league with eight double-doubles.