Box Score (html)Box Score (pdf)Photo GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team went on a 21-3 late in the second half to pull away from Carroll (Mont.) and open the 2014-15 season with an 83-64 victory Friday night at the Mitchell Center.
The Jaguars start 1-0 for the ninth time in the last 10 years and have won their last 23 home openers. Carroll is 6-1 on the year.
Three USA players reached double-digit points, led by junior
John Brown's (Charlotte, N.C.) 22 and sophomore
Ken Williams' (Houston, Texas) 18.
"I told them in the locker room, 'Never take a win for granted, we're 1-0 and it's a young season,'" Jaguar head coach
Matthew Graves said. "The ceiling for this team is extremely high. We have a lot of room for improvement. We have guys in the locker room that are capable of doing things that guys couldn't do last year. We just have to show that consistency to get better and that starts tomorrow when we get to work for Southern Miss.
"We got in a little bit of a rhythm (in the second half), and the thing you worry about is that if we're not making shots, how is that affecting our energy and effort. We didn't make shots in the first half, and that really affected our energy and effort. We started making shots and we got on a roll. When we get on a roll, we're really tough. We can score points, we can defend and we can get up and down the floor. We have to consistently want to grind and be a tough team. I think as this team grows, we need to understand that this needs to become our identity."
Fourteen of Brown's points came in the second half, shooting 4-for-4 from distance. His scoring total is the most by a Jaguar in a season opener since
Demetric Bennett had 27 vs. UC-Irvine in 2006. Brown went 4-for-6 from 3-point land for the contest and made all six attempts from the free-throw line.
Williams also converted four times from behind the 3-point land—in seven attempts—and dished out three assists.
"I thought John and Ken really got going in the second half," Graves said. "They took better shots out of our transition offense. I thought both of those two scored the ball really well from the wings for us."
South Alabama led by single digits for the majority of the first 30 minutes, with Carroll getting as close as four points in the second half before USA went on its run. Brown and Williams combined for 11 points on three 3-pointers in a 12-0 spurt to get the lead to 20 with 6:27 left in the contest, and two free throws from junior
Tafari Whittingham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made it an insurmountable 76-50 advantage with 3:28 left.
Four different Jaguars contributed to the team's 11 triples on the night.
"I think we were taking similar (3-point) shots in the first half, but those shots were really off one or two passes," Graves stated. "In the second half we were able to, whether we got it out in transition or made three or four passes to a ball reversal and then shot it. I think guys were in a little bit better rhythm in the second half. The better our ball movement is, the better our rhythm and ability to make shots will be. The same thing we did against Mobile, when the ball stopped in one of the guards' hands or we didn't move it quick enough, our offense got really stagnant. The quicker we moved the ball, the better our shooters were able to be in rhythm when they shot the ball tonight."
The Fighting Saints shot 51.1 percent from the floor overall and 61.9 percent in the second half alone.
Oliver Carr tallied a team-best 11 points and
Jake Hollifield recorded 10 on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds.
"I thought Carroll came in and did a tremendous job," Graves said. "They're obviously well coached. Offensively they gave us a lot of problems and exposed some things we need to continue to work on defensively. We really want to try to score in transition this year and get it out and score. We have some athletes and some really good shooters. Just like I told the guys before the game and at halftime, 'if you're taking the ball out of the net constantly, it's hard to score in transition'. I thought Carroll kept us off balance all night with their ability to slow the offense down, get some back cuts and score late in the shot clock. We have to find a better identity and a better grouping of guys that are going to get us stops more consistently."
Junior
Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) joined the double-digit scoring club with 10 points and had four assists. Freshman
Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) led all players with 10 rebounds.
NOTES: The Jaguars scored the most points in a season opener since defeating Alcorn State 87-79 to open the 2008-09 campaign… All 10 of Lewis' rebounds came in the first half in 11 minutes of work; the last Jaguar to have double-digit boards in their first collegiate game was
Augustine Rubit in 2010… USA won the rebounding battle 38-27 and had 19 offensive rebounds to CC's 21 defensive boards… The 19 offensive rebounds led to 18 second-chance points… Carroll outshot South Alabama 51.1 percent to 45.3 percent; the Jags' record last year when being outshot was 2-16… South Alabama has hit 10 or more 3-pointers in three of its last four games dating back to last year after hitting 11 tonight… The Jaguars had 14 assists as a team and just 10 turnovers; it took until game six last season to post a positive assist-turnover ratio... USA had had 15 fast-break points in both the exhibition vs. Mobile and tonight.
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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