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MOBILE, Ala. –  The University of South Alabama men's basketball team shot a season-best 61.2 percent from the floor and recorded triple-digit points for the first time in over three years in a 104-95 defeat of Appalachian State Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars even their Sun Belt Conference record at 2-2 and improve to 4-10 overall. The Mountaineers fall to 4-8, 1-2.

USA's 104-point night was its highest total since putting up 123 against William Carey on Feb. 25, 2003.

South Alabama jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in the opening four minutes and had a double-digit lead three minutes later. The Jags never trailed, leading from start to finish for the first time this season.

"I'm really pleased with our effort to start the game, especially on the defensive end of the floor," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We came out, really pressured and got off to an excellent start. We really, in the first half, did a great job of attacking the rim and getting the ball in the paint. They made a couple of runs there, but we were able to close out the first half really well. That might have been the best overall first half that we've played all year on both sides of the ball. Certainly gave up a little bit more points than I would like in the first half, but we did guard and did what we needed."

Six Jags reached double-digits in points, led by sophomore Ken Williams' (Houston, Texas) game- and career-high 26 points. He shot 8-for-12 from the floor, 5-for-6 from 3-point land and tied his career-high with five assists.

"I think his focus in practice has been really good," Graves said of Williams. "The more shots he takes, good shots, he's going to start making them. It's a confidence thing. Early in the season, he wasn't making shots. It was really because he wasn't taking great shots. He was taking contested, difficult shots. Then once he's kind of settled in and he's also getting to the free throw line now, so when you get to the free-throw line you get a little bit of a rhythm. You see the ball go through the rim and great things can happen from there. I'm really proud of how Ken has fought back from an early season shooting slump."

Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) had 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting, and sophomore Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) set a new personal best with 17. Ferguson's performance comes one game after scoring a career-high 25 at Arkansas-Little Rock, and freshman Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) just missed out on a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

"You look at Abdul, Dionte and Georgi, what they shot around the basket are tremendous numbers and there's a carry-over to that," Graves noted. "We need to continue playing through our bigs, getting the ball in the paint and who knows what's going to happen. It's going to be an exciting team to watch."

Thirty-four of the Jags' points came at the free-throw line in 44 attempts, season highs in both categories, and the three posts accounted for half of the squad's free throws made and attempted on the night.

"It's really been an emphasis since we came back from Christmas, to get the ball either in the post or to drive the ball and get a paint touch," Graves said on the increased free-throw numbers. "When we do that, and we've shown our guys, we shoot the ball better from the three because you're in an attacking mindset, an aggressive mindset."

The Jaguars led by 15 at the break, and by 16 just seconds into the final stanza after a free throw, but a 12-2 App State run brought them to within 51-45, and five minutes later, a quick 6-0 spurt brought the Mountaineers closer at 61-56.

However, USA put up the next five points for a double-digit lead, and after the two teams traded scores on the next eight possessions, the Jags stretched their advantage to 14 on back-to-back buckets from junior John Brown (Charlotte, N.C.), and led by no fewer than 10 points until the final minute of the contest.

The Mountaineers put five in double-figure scoring, including four starters. Frank Eaves, the conference's fifth-leading scorer coming into the contest, had a team-high 21. Chris Burgess had 18, thanks to four 3-pointers, and Dustin Clarke had 16 and three assists.

"We just didn't guard anybody and that was extremely disappointing," ASU head coach Jim Fox said. "Every time we got close, we didn't box out on the free throws. We're down five, we miss a free throw and we don't box out. We turn the ball over and then all of a sudden we just… our rotations were just not very good today and that's just very disappointing, and again we put them at the line 44 times. That's incredible, you know it was just a total breakdown defensively."

Up next for the Jaguars is Georgia Southern, Saturday at 4:05 p.m. in the Mitchell Center.

NOTES: Since losing seven games in a row, South Alabama has won two straight for the first time all season… Junior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) dished out five assists with just one turnover; he's averaging 6.0 helpers in his last three games… The last time USA hit the 100-point mark was in a 102-62 win over Alcorn State on Dec. 19, 2011, and the last time the Jags reached 100 in a conference game was Jan. 6, 2007 against Florida Atlantic (101-76)… USA last had six players score in double-digit points on Feb. 24, 2011 against Arkansas-Little Rock… The team also shot better than 60 percent from the floor in a game for the first time since Feb. 14, 2009… Williams' 26 points are the most by a USA player since Augustine Rubit had 35 vs. Gonzaga on Dec. 14, 2013… Williams also had 16 at halftime, the best first-half performance by a Jaguar this year… The Jaguars (10 of 17) and Mountaineers (10 of 20) combined to shoot 54.1 percent from 3-point land; USA's 3-point percentage is a season high… South Alabama outscored Appalachian State on fast-break points 15-0… The Jags' 48 points in the first half and 15-point halftime lead are new season bests.

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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