Game Notes

Game 17 • South Alabama Jaguars (4-12, 2-4) at Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (10-6, 4-1)
January 17, 2015 • 7:15 p.m. • Cajundome (11,550) • Lafayette, La.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 15-32 (2nd year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. ULL: 1-1

La.-Lafayette
Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at ULL: 76-69 (5th year)
Overall Record: 301-200 (17th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama dropped an 82-71 road decision to Texas State. Louisiana-Lafayette had its four-game win streak snapped at Georgia Southern in a 78-70 loss.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars return home to host Arkansas-Little Rock Monday. The Ragin' Cajuns entertain rival Louisiana-Monroe.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 710 AM WNTM; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: www.iheart.com/live/newsradio-710-wntm-1 (audio)

RANKINGS (through Jan. 15)
USA: #25 RPI, #298 Sagarin
ULL: #172 RPI, #141 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 24-21.

Current streak: Louisiana-Lafayette, won 1
USA's last win in series: 81-73 (1/16/14)
Last meeting: La.-Lafayette 102, South Alabama 74 (3/2/14)
USA's last win at the Cajundome: 91-89 2OT (1/10/13)
ULL's last win at the Cajundome: 102-74 (3/2/14)
USA's record at the Cajundome: 10-11
USA's record on the road: 11-11
USA's road streak: Lost 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 4

Notes: South Alabama had a four-game win streak in the series ended last year with the largest loss ever to ULL… The two teams traded wins in the 2008-09 (ULL) and 2009-10 (USA) seasons by the same 67-65 score… ULL has four wins vs. USA (three regular season, one SBC tournament) that were vacated due to NCAA penalties… The Ragin' Cajuns won the 2008-09 contest on a half-court shot by Randell Daigle… South Alabama's 88-64 win in 2012-13 broke a string of seven games in the series decided by six points or less, including two in overtime… Neither team has dominated the other for an extended period—the longest win streak by either school is four.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama outshot its opponent Thursday for the fourth time in six games since the start of the Sun Belt Conference season; the team did not have a higher shooting percentage than its opponent in any of its 10 non-conference games.

USA has scored 71 or more points in five straight games for the first time since Nov. 26-Dec. 7, 2008.

The Jaguars are second in the league in conference games averaging 77.8 points and shooting 49.8 percent from the floor, and are first 3-point percentage at 41.0 percent.

On the other end of the floor, the Jags are last in the league in conference games in scoring defense (81.5) and field goal percentage defense (48.2%), and 10th in 3-point defense (40.2). USA's last three opponents have shot 50 percent or better from the floor and a combined 50.1 percent (28-for-55) from 3-point land.

Louisiana-Lafayette is first in SBC games in scoring offense (81.6) and second in scoring margin (+8.6).

Sophomore Ken Williams is the first Jaguar to score 23 or more points in three straight games since Demetric Bennett in December 2007. Williams is averaging 24.0 points and 4.0 triples, and shooting 58.3 percent (21-36) from the floor and 70.6 percent (12-17) from 3-point land in his last three games, all after scoring just five points at Arkansas-Little Rock on Jan. 5. He shot 6-for-9 from the floor, 3-for-3 from 3-point land and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line Thursday.

Williams has four 20-point games this season, double the rest of the team combined. He is up to 12th in the Sun Belt in scoring (13.9) and third in 3-pointers per game (2.6).

Senior Dionte Ferguson, who was averaging 18.0 points in his previous three games, was held to six Thursday at Texas State. He did block a game-high three shots, his sixth multi-block game of the season. He is fifth in the conference with 1.3 rejections per contest.

Ferguson hasn't shot less than 50 percent from the floor in a game since the start of the Sun Belt season. He ranks seventh in the league at 55.1 percent on the year and fourth in rebounding (7.2).

The Jaguars had just seven assists Thursday after entering the game averaging 15.8 the previous four games, their best four-game run of the year. Junior Barrington Stevens III had just two assists and four turnovers, his first negative assist/turnover ratio since Nov. 23 at Detroit, and only the second occurrence this season. He was averaging 5.8 assists in his previous four games. Stevens ranks seventh in the league in assists (3.5) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).

ULL's Shawn Long is averaging 15.0 points and 10.5 rebounds with three double-doubles in four career games against South Alabama.