Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama seniors Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) and Antoine Allen (Baltimore, Md.) will be playing in the final home games of their career Saturday night when the men's basketball team hosts Texas-Arlington.

Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. Rubit and Allen will be honored in a ceremony before the game.

Fans can listen to the game on 105.5 FM and WNSP.com or watch a live videostream on the South Alabama All-Access subscription service. Updates will also be provided via twitter at @SouthAlaMBK and live stats on USAJaguars.com.

"Time flies; it just seems like I just started the job back in April and a lot of things have happened since," Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said about going into the last game of the season. "We're making progress and heading things in the right direction. Obviously, the wins and losses haven't panned out the way we'd hoped for this team, but it's been a learning experience for me and my staff. The young guys that we have coming back, we're really excited about them. We have one last game here to finish off the season and I know we'll be ready to compete."

The two seniors scored in double-digits Thursday, helping the Jags to a 63-53 win over Texas State. Rubit had team-high totals of 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a career-best four steals. Allen added 13 points.

Both have made their mark at South Alabama. Allen has been the team's top 3-point shooter in his two years with the program, placing just outside the school's top 10 for career triples, while Rubit's name litters USA's record books. He holds school records for career rebounds (1,169), free throws made (546) and attempted (758), and double-doubles (53).

This season the pair are the top two scorers on the team, with Rubit tops at 17.0 per game which ranks sixth in the Sun Belt. Allen checks in at 10.2 per contest, 27th-best in the conference while hitting 61 times from 3-point land, eighth in the league.

"It's bittersweet. I feel bad for them because neither are getting the opportunity to play in a conference tournament and thus, get a chance to compete to go to the NCAA Tournament," Graves said. "It's really unfortunate—I think every player should have that right to compete and get to the conference tournament. One of the things we want to do as an organization within our league is to get everybody to go to the conference tournament. It's an experience for the students that they need to be involved in, and hopefully we can get that rectified for next year."

Texas-Arlington has a pair of dangerous seniors themselves in Reger Dowell and Brandon Edwards. Dowell is the top scorer (20.5 ppg) and 3-point shooter (3.3 pg) in the Sun Belt and ranks 18th and eighth in the nation in those categories, respectively. The Oklahoma State transfer had a game-high 21 points—15 in the first half—on four 3-pointers against the Jags in Arlington.

"You have to be in tune at all times," Graves said. "You cannot give him an inch because he does a great job of setting up his cuts, coming off screens and getting an angle to shoot. He has very deep range and he hit a couple against us in a row. He can easily put six or nine points on the board in a hurry, so you have to have a constant awareness and you can't let your guard down."

Edwards does the work inside for the Mavericks, as evidenced by his 9.8 rebounding average that ranks second in the conference, one spot ahead of Rubit, while his scoring average of 16.5 is seventh in the league, one behind Rubit. He has 12 double-doubles this season, second-best in the Sun Belt, including a 17-point, 11-rebound performance against the Jaguars earlier this season.

"He had 33 (points) and 19 (rebounds) last night, so he's coming off a very good game," said Graves. "He's going to be feeling really good about himself. It's no different (than Dowell): you have to have an awareness, you have to be physical with him, and you can't allow them to get going, whether it's getting an easy dunk or getting a drive and getting two free throws and getting in a nice rhythm. We have to make it difficult on all of his catches and not him get in any kind of rhythm."

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).

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