Game Notes
Game 3 • South Alabama Jaguars (1-1) at Detroit Titans (1-2)
November 22, 2014 • 3 p.m. • Calihan Hall (8,295) • Detroit, Mich.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 12-21 (2nd year)
Overall Record: Same
Detroit
Ray McCallum (Ball State, 1983)
Record at UDM: 100-101 (7th year)
Overall Record: 270-250 (18th year)
LAST GAMESouth Alabama let a seven-point halftime lead slip away in a 68-59 loss at Southern Miss. Detroit let Michigan go on an 11-0 run late in a 71-62 road defeat.
NEXT GAMEThe Jaguars travel to Miami on Friday. The Titans will play Maryland-Eastern Shore Monday in Toledo, Ohio in the Progressive Legends Classic.
ON THE AIRRadio: 710 AM WNTM
On the web: www.iheart.com/live/newsradio-710-wntm-1 (audio), ESPN3.com (video) - http://es.pn/1F3enaj
RANKINGS (through Nov. 19)USA: #330 RPI, #253 Sagarin
UDM: #124 RPI, #147 Sagarin
THE SERIESSouth Alabama leads 1-0.
Current streak: USA, 1 wins
Last meeting: South Alabama 74, Detroit 58 (11/8/13)
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 0
Notes: The Jags won the first meeting between the two schools last year in Mobile 74-58, in Matthew Graves' first game as head coach.
OPENING TIPSouth Alabama is 1-1 for the ninth time in the last 10 years.
With the loss at Southern Miss Monday, USA fell to 10-37 all-time in road openers and has lost 19 of its last 21.
After grabbing 19 offensive rebounds vs. Carroll that led to 18 second-chance points, the Jaguars had just seven vs. USM—one in the first half—for five second-chance points. The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Jags 44-29 for the contest.
South Alabama is holding its first two opponents to 34.7 percent shooting overall and 16.7 percent from 3-point land in the first half, but 57.4 percent overall in the second half. Carroll converted 61.9 percent from the floor and Southern Miss shot 53.8 percent.
The Jaguars have been led in scoring and rebounding in each of their first two games by newcomers. Junior John Brown, who is averaging a team-best 18.0 points per game, scored 22 points in the opener vs. Carroll, then put up 14 on 7 of 12 shooting at Southern Miss. He went 4-for-6 from 3-point land—4-for-4 in the second half alone—and made all six free-throw attempts against Carroll. He failed to hit a triple or get to the charity stripe vs. USM, but he grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists. He ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in scoring.
Brown's 22-point performance against Carroll was the most by a Jaguar in a season opener since 2006.
On the rebounding end, freshman Abdul Lewis pulled down six rebounds Monday to lead the team, one game after recording 10 boards in his first career game—the first to do that since Augustine Rubit in 2010—vs. Carroll. All six rebounds vs. Southern Miss came on the defensive end. He is tied for seventh in the SBC in rebounds per game (8.0).
After converting 11 times from behind the 3-point arc in the season opener—the third time in four games the team hit 10 or more treys—USA was held to just five 3s in 27 attempts (18.5%) at Southern Miss.
Junior Barrington Stevens III had three assists with one turnover at USM, bringing his season totals to seven assists—a team best—and just two turnovers, to rank in a tie for sixth in the conference with a 3.5 assist/turnover ratio. The last game where he had more turnovers than assists was Jan. 16, a span of 15 games. His assist/turnover ratio last year was 2.0, the best by a Jaguar since 1988-89.
Detroit's Juwan Howard Jr., first on the team with 18.7 points per game, recorded a double-double against the Jags last season with 18 points—on 7 of 22 shooting—and 11 rebounds.
South Alabama held the Titans to just 28.9 percent shooting last year, including 7.1 percent (1-14) on 3-pointers.
