Game Notes
Game 28 • South Alabama Jaguars (9-18, 3-11) at Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (8-14, 5-9)
February 27, 2014 • 7 p.m. • Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,000) • Monroe, La.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 9-18 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. ULM: 0-1
Louisiana-Monroe
Keith Richard (Louisiana-Monroe, 1982)
Record at ULM: 22-87 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 172-204 (12th year)
LAST GAME
South Alabama used a fast start to get past Troy 86-78. Louisiana-Monroe fell behind 17-1 in the early going and couldn't catch up to Western Kentucky in a 72-63 road loss.
NEXT GAME
The Jaguars play their final road game of the season at Louisiana-Lafayette Sunday. The Warhawks host Troy.
ON THE AIR
Radio: 105.5 WNSP; Lee Shirvanian (pxp)
On the web: www.wnsp.com (audio)
RANKINGS (through Feb. 24)
USA: #278 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #241 Sagarin
ULM: #224 RPI (RealTimeRPI), #232 Sagarin
THE SERIES
USA leads 10-4.
Current winning streak: Louisiana-Monroe, 1 win
USA's last win in series: 71-56 (1/17/13)
Last meeting: ULM 64, South Alabama 58 (1/18/14)
USA's last win at Fant-Ewing Coliseum: 77-72 (1/3/13)
ULM's last win at Fant-Ewing Coliseum: 61-58 (1/14/10)
USA's record at Fant-Ewing Coliseum: 6-2
USA's road streak: Won 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 7 / 2
Notes: The previous four meetings before USA's 71-56 win in Mobile last season were decided by a combined 12 points… ULM broke a seven-game losing streak to South Alabama during the 2009-10 season in Monroe 61-58, and won again in Mobile the next season 67-65… Freddie Goldstein tied his own school record with nine 3-pointers in USA's 88-86 win in Monroe in the 2011-12 season, to end a two-game skid to the Warhawks… ULM's two-game win streak matched the program's longest against South Alabama… USA's average margin of victory in its seven-game win streak was 15.3 points… The two schools played four times in 1975 and 1976 but didn't resume the series until 2005.
OPENING TIP
South Alabama has won two out of three games for the first time since Dec. 2.
The Jaguars have allowed three of their last four opponents to score 48 points or more in the second half. Troy's 54 points Saturday are the most by a USA opponent this season.
The 45 first-half points scored by the Jags Saturday are the second-most put up before halftime this year and the 21-point halftime lead tied a season high.
USA's 86 total points are the team's most in regulation since posting 91 against Spring Hill on Dec. 2 and the most against a Division I opponent in regulation all season.
South Alabama shot better than 50 percent for the fourth time this season and the first since shooting a season-best 59.2 percent Jan. 16 against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Jaguars are 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Sun Belt play when shooting 50 percent or better.
Augustine Rubit has scored 20 points or more in four of his last five games—averaging 20.8 points over that span—while shooting 50 percent or better four times with four double-doubles.
Rubit is three points away from taking over 11th place in Sun Belt Conference history and 14 points from ninth. He needs 13 points to move into second place past Terry Catledge in the USA record books.
Rubit tied one of Catledge's school records Saturday when he put up 22 points and 10 rebounds for his 52nd career double-double, which leads all active Division I players. Since going a career-long five games without a double-double, he has two in his last three games.
Rubit blocked two shots Saturday, giving him 11 in his last three games to bump him up to fourth in the league in blocks per game (1.3). He currently has 128 in his career and needs four to move into the Sun Belt's top-25 all time list.
He set a new personal best with five assists and committed just one turnover vs. Troy.
In five career games vs. Louisiana-Monroe, Rubit has averaged 21.4 points and 9.6 rebounds. In his last visit to Monroe on Jan. 3, 2013, Rubit scored a then-career high 32 points on 11 of 12 shooting from the floor and 10 of 12 shooting from the free-throw line. He had 18 points and 12 boards vs. ULM earlier this year in Mobile.
In his first career start Saturday,
Georgi Boyanov made all three of his field goal attempts to tie his career high of six points and added six rebounds and two steals in 17 minutes of work.
Ken Williams scored 14 of his 18 points against Troy in the first half on the strength of four 3-pointers. He didn't score again until the 6:39 mark of the second half but both of his buckets after halftime kept the Jags up double-digits as the Trojans attempted a comeback. The 18 points are one shy of his career high and the four 3-pointers gave him the school's freshman class record for 3s in a season (44).
