Box Score (html)
Box Score (pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) recorded his first career double-double and the men's basketball team came back against a pesky Spring Hill team to win 71-54 Tuesday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars improve to 2-3 on the season; the game was an exhibition for NCAA Division II Spring Hill (0-6).

SHC outshot the Jaguars 40.8 percent to 36.4 percent and led for almost the entire first 18 minutes before the Jaguars scored the final six points of the first half and the first three of the second.

"I thought Spring Hill came out and played hard," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "They cut hard and really challenged us defensively.  They started off the game 5 of 10, 2 of 3 from three and got off to a great start. They were rather comfortable, but the rest of the first half they were 5-15. We really carried that over into the second half and held them to around 40 percent field goal percentage. That's a pretty good number for us and an improvement from earlier in the season."

South Alabama had three players in double-digit scoring, led by Boyanov who set new career highs in both points (14) and rebounds (10) while shooting 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.

Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) just missed out on a double-double himself with eight points and nine rebounds. He blocked a shot and added two steals.

"I think they worked really hard and did a great job," Graves noted. "Your two starting posts get eight offensive rebounds and 22 points. They were working hard and finding angles and ways to score. That's one of the things we talked about at halftime. Our post players were 4-for-5 (shooting). They didn't get enough shots. We made an emphasis to get them the ball a little bit more in the second half. That's something that we need to continue to look at in the future."

Freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 11 points off the bench for the Jags.

Matevz Rojc paced Spring Hill with 10 points off the bench and made both of his 3-point attempts. James Clarke added nine—also in a supporting role—on 2-for-3 shooting from distance.

"I was pleased with our guys, we've not been guarding very well and I thought we guarded very well tonight," Spring Hill head coach Aaron Niven said. "I challenged my team, because we came here last year and got out rebounded by 31 and I wanted to actually win the rebound war—which we didn't—but we only got out rebounded by three. I was pleased with that; our focus was to come in here and have a good time and enjoy the opportunity and try to get better and I thought we did that tonight."

South Alabama didn't take its first lead until the 3:21 mark of the first half on a Johnson 3-pointer for a 22-21 advantage, and after three unanswered points by Spring Hill, Johnson and Boyanov reeled off nine straight over a two-minute stretch that spanned halftime. Boyanov contributed five, including a 3-pointer, and Johnson added four, three off an old-fashioned three-point play.

The Badgers closed to within four at the 14:46 mark, but a 10-2 run started by 3-pointers from junior John Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) and freshman Devin Epps (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) gave the Jaguars a double-digit lead (41-31) for the first time.

"The difference is the size and the physicality right now with their guys and ours," Niven said. "They are a young team right now and we are too but, they are just bigger than us and more physical than us. We didn't deal with that very well and they turned the defensive pressure up a little bit and we didn't deal with that as well as we should. We turned it over and had a few offensive rebounds and they had a couple of timely shots as well."

The Jaguars host Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama has had a different player record a double-double in each of the last three games… The Jaguars' 13 straight wins over Spring Hill ties the team's longest active win streak against an opponent (Samford)… After committing just six turnovers at Miami on Friday, USA had 15 miscues tonight… The Jags haven't scored more than 30 points in the first half since the season opener… South Alabama had 13 offensive rebounds—nine less than the previous game at Miami—but they led to 18 second-chance points, tying the team's season high… USA's 19 turnovers forced, 11 steals and 26 points off turnovers were also team season bests… Sophomore Austin Karazsia (Linton, Ind.) tied his career high with four rebounds in just 12 minutes of work… South Alabama's nine 3-pointers equaled the team's total from the previous two games combined; three players had two treys apiece… After starting 0-for-4 from the free-throw line, the Jaguars finished 22-for-27, including 18-for-22 in the second half.

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).

—USA—