Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – After getting an unexpected extended break due to a winter storm, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team returns to the court Saturday to host Arkansas-Little Rock Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

Snow and ice cancelled the Jaguars' game Thursday at Georgia State. That game will be played Monday, forcing USA to play three games in a six-day period.

"It's different and you want to take into consideration player safety first and foremost," Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said. "We had a chance to get in a couple of extra practices this week in preparation for Arkansas-Little Rock. We'll get together on Sunday for a short practice and head over and play Georgia State. This time of year your practices are a lot shorter anyway so your focus has to be more important than your practices.

"We just want to play guys that are playing well. These guys are in very good condition; they're 18-to-23 year olds, so they can handle playing three games over the course of six days. Certainly we'll manage it with days off and practices, but we want to have guys fresh and ready to go."

Tip-off Saturday is at 4:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on 105.5 FM and WNSP.com or watch a live videostream on USA's Jaguars All-Access subscription service. Updates will also be provided via twitter at @SouthAlaMBK and live stats on USAJaguars.com.

Saturday will also be a part of a reunion weekend for South Alabama men's and women's basketball alumni. Festivities include a get-together at Heroes Sports Bar and Grille on Friday night, a men's and women's "Old Timer's" shootaround from 11 a.m.-noon on Saturday, and an alumni reception in the John Counts room after the doubleheader.

Since stopping a six-game losing streak Jan. 16 against Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama (7-13, 1-6) has lost two in a row, including last week's road defeat at Texas-Arlington. Arkansas-Little Rock (11-10, 6-3), sitting in third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, has alternated wins and losses in its last seven outings but has dropped two in a row on the road.

In the first meeting between the two schools, the Jags let an 11-point lead in the second half slip away thanks to 19.4 percent shooting after halftime, but tied the score at 60-60 with 2:41 left in the game. However, UALR scored the final five points of the contest for a 65-60 win.

"We feel like we let one get away from us up there earlier in the year," Graves said. "We had a big lead at halftime and let it get away in the second half, so our guys are certainly hungry to come out here and prove they can get a win, and we need to get back in the race to be in the top eight to get to New Orleans at the end of the year."

Will Neighbour paces the Trojans with 17.5 points and 7.2 points per contest and has five 20-point outings in his last nine games. He bounced back from a career-low one-point performance Jan. 25 at Arkansas State to record his sixth double-double of the year with 24 points and 12 rebounds Thursday vs. Louisiana-Lafayette.

"Neighbour is an excellent player," Graves stated. "He's a first-team all-league guy so we're really going to have to focus in and defend him a lot better than we did the last time. It's going to take a really good team effort to defend him."

USA senior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) scored 14 points vs. Texas-Arlington to move up to 21st in Sun Belt history with 1,720 in his career. He is seven points shy of taking the No. 4 spot in the school record books and the 19th spot in conference history. Rubit scored 22 points against the Trojans earlier this season and has posted three straight double-doubles vs. UALR.

"Offensively we've got to attack inside," Graves noted. "We've really emphasized and worked on getting the ball inside, whether it's getting the ball to Augustine on the block or driving the ball in the paint. We have to get away from shooting early 3-point shots."

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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