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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team jumped out to a 20-point lead at halftime and a big Texas-Arlington run ultimately fell short in a 97-91 Jaguar victory Saturday afternoon at Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars win for the second straight game to improve to 9-17 overall and 7-8 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Mavericks fall to 14-10 and 8-6.

USA put up its second-most most points of the season, but 20 turnovers—14 in the second half alone—led to 32 UTA points.

"I'm really proud of how we started," Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said. "We were very focused and attacked them in their man (defense). We attacked them when they went zone. Ken (Williams) got us off to a great start. He was 5-6 in the first half from the three. We really defended at a very good rate in the first half and kept them out of transition.

"We knew they were going to make a run at some point. A team that is down 20 is going to gamble and take some chances. Unfortunately, we made some poor decisions with the basketball. Again, it's something that we have to continue to look at and work on. It's hard to simulate the pressure and intensity, their length and athleticism. It's going to be good to learn from watching film. There's no question about that. When they started to make a run, you kind of saw guys drop their head and feel sorry for themselves. That's not going to help anyone. We have to continue to stay upbeat. We know teams are going to make runs. That's a really good team. That's a team that could win this league when they go to New Orleans. So, hats off to them because they came back but really proud of how we ended up finishing the game off."

USA sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) led all scorers with career-high 29 points and he added a personal-best eight rebounds. He hit six 3-pointers—five in the first half—in 10 attempts and went 9-for-11 at the free-throw line.

"He was in a great rhythm," Graves said. "He was certainly fired up to play a Texas school and one of his teammates from high school was on the other team. He wanted to get that series split so he could have a little bit of bragging rights when he goes back home to Houston in the summer. I thought he did a really good job. When Ken gets to the free throw line, he's usually going to have a good night scoring. In the first half of the season, he wasn't getting to the free throw line and he wasn't shooting it really well. Since Christmas, with his ability to get to the free throw line, his shooting percentage is through the roof. Right now, he's playing like a first-team all-league guy."

The Jaguars built up a 23-point lead through the first six minutes of the second half after seven consecutive points, but the UT Arlington press caused chaos and five Jaguar turnovers in a three-minute span led to a 17-2 run. The final 11 were unanswered as UTA went 5-for-6 from the floor and cut the deficit to 70-62 with 10:49 to play.

South Alabama got the lead back up to 12 at the 7:40 mark but UT Arlington reeled off seven of the next eight points in less than a minute and closed within 77-71 with just under 6 ½ minutes to play.

"We panicked," Graves said. "We can't really hide from it. Everyone watched the game. Certainly, we panicked. I used all the timeouts I could. I didn't have any left to use. Again, it's a moment we have not been in a whole lot. You go look at our scores throughout the season, we haven't been ahead where we are trying to protect something. It doesn't happen very often. That's something we're going to change, and we're starting to change that. This is a great learning experience for us. So we're going to be in these moments a lot more, and we have to learn how to handle it."

Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) answered on the Jaguars' next possession, and the Mavericks made two free throws on its next trip down the floor, but they would only get as close as six once more while the outcome was still in doubt. USA went 8-for-10 at the foul line in the final 56.7 seconds.

South Alabama shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the first half and used runs of 16-3 and 10-1 to build a 20-point lead at the break. Williams went 5-for-6 from distance for 16 points to tie the most by a USA player before halftime all season.

In addition to Williams' 29, three other Jags hit double-digits in points. Freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) had 16, with 11 coming from the free-throw line, junior John Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to record 12, and sophomore Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) tied his career high with 17 on 6 of 9 shooting.

"(Georgi) didn't get us our 10 rebounds to have the double-double stat, but he played really well," Graves said. "He gave us a lot of points around the rim. When he's comfortable and playing at a high level, our offense is totally different."

Freshman Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) pulled down a game-high-tying 10 rebounds.

Lonnie McClanahan had 20 points and four steals for UTA, and Erick Neal came off the bench to pour in 16 on four 3-pointers. Greg Gainey totaled 13 and nine rebounds, and Kevin Hervey recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Jaguars go on the road for their next two games, starting with Georgia State Thursday at 6 p.m. CST.

NOTES: South Alabama is averaging 84.0 points in Sun Belt wins and 62.8 in conference losses… Williams tied also tied his career high for 3-pointers with six and moved up to ninth in school history with 122 in his career… Lewis recorded his team-best sixth double-digit rebound game of the season… Johnson is averaging 16.7 points in his last three games… Ferguson blocked a shot to extend his streak with at least one to six… USA is averaging 92 points against UTA this season, but is giving up 95… The Jaguars won for the first time in a day game this season (1-7), and is now just 3-15 (2-6 in SBC games) when shooting less than 50 percent in the second half… The 49 points and 20-point lead at halftime were both season highs, as were the 34 free throws in 46 attempts… UTA's 32 points off turnovers and 50 bench points are the most by a USA opponent this season, and the 62 points in the second tied the most by an opponent… Junior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) had a minus assist/turnover ratio (two assists, three turnovers) for just the third time this season… Brown's 12 points are his most since scoring 14 in the second game of the year at Southern Miss (Nov. 17)… Johnson's 16 free-throw attempts are tied for third in Mitchell Center history, and McClanahan is tied for fifth with 15… As a team, USA's 34 free throws are third-best and the 46 attempts are tied for third in arena history.

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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