MOBILE, Ala. – Following a 55-point win in its exhibition contest, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team will officially commence the 2015-16 campaign Friday night at home against Auburn-Montgomery.

Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. in the Mitchell Center. Fans can follow the action via live stats on USAJaguars.com, Twitter at @SouthAlaMBK, audio on 99.9 FM or www.iheart.com/live/lite-mix-999-5, or video on JagNationTV.com.

"I feel very good about where we are as a team at this early juncture," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We came out and did some really nice things against Mobile and we need to continue to build on that and show consistency as we move forward."

The Jaguars are riding the momentum from their 98-43 exhibition win over Mobile on Nov. 5. The team scored the first 12 points of the contest and jumped out to a 20-5 lead en route to the big win.

"I felt like we did a great job of taking care of the basketball; we only had 14 turnovers in 81 possessions, which is a great number for us," Graves said. "I felt like we shared the ball for the most part and our shot selection was solid. At the defensive end of the floor, I felt like our activity was really good. We played for a full 40 minutes, which is something we haven't been able to do in the past."

The backcourt, on the strength of three major contributors from last year, were the driving force behind the victory. Sophomore Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) came off the bench to score 22 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while junior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) added 20 on three 3-pointers with three assists.

Senior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas), who led the Jags with 104 assists in 2014-15, had six last week with no turnovers.

"I thought Taishaun was very efficient with his output, scoring 22 points on nine shots," Graves noted. "I like that efficiency. With Ken, he scored the ball well, but I think he'll get better at making a higher percentage of his shots. With Barrington, six assists and no turnovers, I'll take that every game the rest of the year."

Friday's opponent has started the year on fire with a 4-0 record while averaging 91.2 points per game. The Warhawks have scored 84 points or more in each game and are shooting 48.2 percent from the floor.

Phillip Rankin is averaging 21.0 points and 13.8 rebounds per contest and is coming off a 25-point, 12-rebound performance his last time out against Point (Ga.). He is shooting 63.6 percent overall and 21 of his 55 rebounds have come on the offensive glass.

Julius McCoy is AUM's deep threat with 15 triples in 32 attempts. He is second on the team in scoring with 16.0 per game.

"AUM is a team that really likes to get out and go in transition, whether that's off of makes or misses," Graves noted. "That's going to be a great challenge for us because we need to really improve in that area; that's been one of our focuses from the preseason, to be a much better transition defensive team. It's going to be a challenge to get back and prevent easy baskets. We want them to play against our half-court defense."

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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