Game Notes

Game 25 • South Alabama Jaguars (7-17, 1-10) at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (17-8, 9-3)
February 15, 2014 • 7 p.m. • Diddle Arena (7,326) • Bowling Green, Ky.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 7-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. WKU: 0-1

Western Kentucky
Ray Harper (Kentucky Wesleyan, 1985)
Record at WKU: 48-32 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 390-95 (15th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama lost its sixth straight in an 85-61 home defeat to Arkansas State. Western Kentucky held off Troy 81-76.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars go to Texas State on Thursday. The Hilltoppers host Louisiana-Monroe.

ON THE AIR
TV: ESPN3
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)

RANKINGS (through Feb. 12)
USA: #287 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #262 Sagarin
WKU: #111 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #156 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 33-32.

Current winning streak: WKU, 3 wins
USA's last win in series: 65-57 (1/24/13)
Last meeting: WKU 58, South Alabama 56 (1/2/14)
USA's last win at Diddle Arena: 80-76 (2/3/11)
WKU's last win at Diddle Arena: 79-73 (2/28/13)
USA's record at Diddle Arena: 11-17
USA's road streak: Lost 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 6 / 6

Notes: South Alabama is the only Sun Belt school to lead the all-time series with Western Kentucky… South Alabama snapped a six-game losing streak to WKU—the longest by the Hilltoppers in the series—in 2010-11 season in Bowling Green… WKU also won six straight from Feb. 16, 1985 to Jan. 16, 1988… WKU's 30-point win in Bowling Green in the 2009-10 season was the biggest win in the series by either school; the previous seven meetings were decided by eight points or less… Since South Alabama won six straight from 1996-98, WKU leads the series 18-12… The Hilltoppers won two of the three matchups last season, including a three-point win in the Sun Belt Tournament.

OPENING TIP
Saturday will mark the last meeting between the two schools as Sun Belt Conference opponents. The Jaguars are the only league school to lead the all-time series with WKU, 33-32.

South Alabama last had two losing streaks of six or more in the 2001-02 season.

USA has allowed two of its last three opponents to score 85 points after not permitting any opponent to do that in regulation in the first 21 games. The last two opponents, Troy and Arkansas State, have totaled 99 points in the second half alone.

Augustine Rubit is averaging 19.5 points and shooting 64.0 percent from the floor in his last four games.  He has converted 60 percent or better in four consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2011-12 campaign. Rubit averages 24.0 points in his last two outings.

Rubit scored 15 of his team-high 23 points Thursday in the first half, tying the highest first-half output by a USA player this season. The 23 points moved him up to 14th in Sun Belt history with 1,798 points, three shy of third at South Alabama and 13th in the league record books.

Rubit broke a tie with Ed Rains for second in USA history with 93 career double-digit scoring games. Rubit has reached double-digits in 20 of 24 games this season. Jeff Hodge is the school's all-time leader with 104.

Rubit's current run of five consecutive games without a double-double is a career high.

In eight career games against Western Kentucky, Rubit has scored 19 or more four times and 11 or less four times. He is shooting 32.7 percent from the floor in his last three games vs. WKU.

Barrington Stevens III tied his career high of six assists for the second straight game Thursday against Arkansas State. He is averaging 5.7 assists in his last three games and has recorded a positive assist-turnover ratio in 18 of 24 games this season and is plus-nine over the last two games.

Since returning to the starting lineup Feb. 1 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, he is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 assists with a 3.5 assist-turnover ratio. He is also shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from 3-point land over that span.

Stevens ranks third in the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio in conference games only (2.2).

WKU's leading scorer, T.J. Price, is averaging 21.0 points in his last three games against South Alabama. He had 22 in each of the Hilltoppers' wins at home and in the Sun Belt Tournament last season, and had a game-high 19 on Jan. 2 in Mobile.

Price rebounded from a two-point outing in a 72-58 loss to Arkansas State by pouring in a game-high 22 Thursday night against Troy.