Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – A run of three games in five days comes to a close Monday night when the University of South Alabama men's basketball team hosts Arkansas-Little Rock at the Mitchell Center.

Tip off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Subscribers to South Alabama All-Access can watch online at USAJaguars.com and the radio broadcast can be heard on 710 AM in Mobile or on iHeartRadio.com. Live stats on USAJaguars.com and Twitter updates at @SouthAlaMBK will also provide information throughout the game.

The Jaguars (5-12, 3-4 Sun Belt) continued their hot offensive play Saturday at Louisiana-Lafayette, rallying from 15 down in the first half and nine at halftime thanks to 54 second-half points to win 89-82. USA shot 66.7 percent from the floor after intermission and got a career-high 28 points from sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas).

"The team is in great spirits and anytime you can get a win on the road against a top-tier team in this league is a heck of an accomplishment," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I was really proud of our guys' effort and attention to detail as we went through the game. It sure makes the bus ride home really nice.

"They came back today and had good focus in the weight room, so I'm looking for a great, energized effort Monday as we close out these three games in five days."

South Alabama has been on a hot streak of late, averaging 82.7 points with three games of 87 points or more in its last six outings. The team scored 72 on Jan. 5 at UALR thanks to senior Dionte Ferguson's (Prattville, Ala.) career-best 25 points and sophomore Georgi Boyanov's (Lovech, Bulgaria) 16 points and 13 rebounds.

"Arkansas-Little Rock is one of the better defensive teams in the league because they're so physical," Graves noted. "I'm anticipating seeing a little more zone in our game because of an injury to one of their players, so I think we've got to be prepared to still attack inside and not rely solely on shooting 3-point shots. That's something we're going to talk about on Monday and continue to harp on it. We need to get ourselves in the paint and to the free-throw line, even if they are going to play more zone than what we normally see."

Williams has been the driving force behind the offensive resurgence, averaging 25.0 points, and shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from behind the arc in his last four games. He is the first Jaguar to score 23 points or more in four straight games since Jeff Hodge in 1988-89.

Monday will mark the first rematch of the Sun Belt season after USA's 72-69 win in Little Rock earlier this month. The Trojans (6-10, 1-5 SBC) won last year in Mobile to break a three-game road losing streak.

UALR is at the bottom of the league standings, but two of its five losses have come in overtime to teams with winning records (UL Lafayette and Texas State), and three have been by a combined 10 points. The Trojans lost 64-52 at Sun Belt leader Louisiana-Monroe Saturday.

"I think their record is very misleading; they've played a lot of close games and in a close game, you get a ball to bounce your way, or maybe a call or a player getting in foul trouble," Graves said. "A lot of things can happen. It doesn't take more than one or two possessions to flip that switch, and we've been on the wrong end of it some this year in the non-conference season. You don't take any opponent for granted. The team that plays the best for 40 minutes will win so we need to understand that and throw the records out the window. We have to focus on who our opponent is and they're going to come in here and try to steal one on our home floor. If we want to go to New Orleans and compete for a championship, we've got to do a better job of protecting our home court."

The Trojans' leading scorer is Roger Woods, who is 17th in the league with 12.0 points per game. He had team-high totals of 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Jaguars earlier this year. UALR ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in offense (69.0 ppg) and tied for seventh in defense (71.1 ppg).

"I think we need to focus on shrinking the floor," Graves said. "We've got to be active in our gaps and physical on drives. In the first game we did a decent job of rebounding the basketball. We need to continue to do those three things and that will make it a lot tougher. Another thing that scares me is that they got 19 points in transition (last game). We have to do a much better job of defending them in transition."

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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