Game Notes
Game 26 • South Alabama Jaguars (8-17, 2-10) at Texas State Bobcats (7-17, 3-8)
February 20, 2014 • 7 p.m. • Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 8-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Texas State: 0-0
Texas State
Danny Kaspar (North Texas, 1978)
Record at TXST: 7-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: 472-210 (23rd year)
LAST GAME
South Alabama never trailed in a 69-62 win at Western Kentucky. Texas State fell at Sun Belt leader Georgia State 68-41.
NEXT GAME
The Jaguars return home to take on Troy Saturday night. The Bobcats travel to Arkansas State.
ON THE AIR
TV: KXAN-Austin NBC
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)
RANKINGS (through Feb. 18)
USA: #266 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #249 Sagarin
TXST: #308 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #275 Sagarin
THE SERIES
First meeting.
OPENING TIP
Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between South Alabama and Texas State. USA has faced two opponent this season for the first time—Detroit and Dillard—and is 2-0 against those schools.
The Bobcats are in their first season as members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars are 0-3 against first-year members of the league (0-2 vs. Georgia State, 0-1 vs. Texas-Arlington) this year.
USA is 0-3 in the state of Texas in 2013-14, losing at Texas, Rice and Texas-Arlington.
Western Kentucky's 62 points tie the fewest by a South Alabama opponent since WKU scored 58 on Jan. 2. The previous three opponents scored at least 79 points, including two totaling 85 points each.
The win over WKU Saturday ended a six-game losing streak and was USA's first away from home. The Jags are 1-9 in true road games and 0-2 at neutral sites.
South Alabama held Western Kentucky to 14.3 percent (4-28) shooting in the first half. The last opponent to convert less than 20 percent in a half was Alabama State in December 2011.
Mychal Ammons led all players with 20 points vs. WKU, his most points since pouring in 21 at Florida International on Dec. 1, 2012. He totaled 17 points in his previous four games combined. Ammons added 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the year.
Augustine Rubit joined Ammons in the double-double club with 12 points and 13 boards, breaking a career-long streak of five games without a double-double. His point total moved him into third place in school history and 13th in Sun Belt history with 1,810 in his career. His second point on Thursday will put him in 12th place.
Rubit's double-double was the 51st of his career, one shy of Terry Catledge's school record.
Rubit also blocked five shots—tying his career high—to take the team lead away from Ammons with 29. Ammons also blocked a pair of shots to give him 28 on the year.
Rubit shot just 5-for-16 (31.2%) from the floor Saturday, breaking a streak of four consecutive games over 60 percent shooting.
Barrington Stevens III had just one assist Saturday—his lowest total in six games—but he made two of his three attempts from 3-point land for six points and committed just one turnover. He was averaging 5.7 helpers in his previous three games, including a career-best six in each of his last two.
Texas State is the top defensive team in the Sun Belt, giving up 66.2 points per game, but ranks last in both field goal percentage defense (.453) and 3-point percentage defense (.403). The Bobcats held Georgia State to 68 points Monday, more than 10 points below its season average, but allowed the Panthers to shoot 52.2 percent from the floor—including 60.9 percent in the second half—and 40.0 percent from 3-point land.
