Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – With the regular season behind them, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team now turns their attention to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and first-round opponent Arkansas-Little Rock, starting Thursday in New Orleans' Lakefront Arena.

The Jaguars start their road to the NCAA Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at SunBeltSports.org and the game will be shown on ESPN3.com. In-game updates will also be provided on the USA men's basketball Twitter handle @SouthAlaMBK.

South Alabama will return to the tournament after a one-year absence, having not qualified in 2013-14 with a ninth-place finish. This season, the Jaguars (11-20, 9-11 SBC) finished with back-to-back wins to earn the No. 6 seed.

"I'm really excited for our team and our players to have an opportunity to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "Obviously last year we missed out on it and the guys are excited.

"I thought the league this year was extremely well balanced and very competitive. All the way to the last weekend, you had teams vying for different spots so that makes it exciting. We're thankful to be a part of it and understand we have an incredible challenge playing UALR. I think Coach (Steve) Shields did an outstanding job of getting his team in the position it's in because of their injuries. He did a wonderful job and we're certainly going to have our work cut out for us on Thursday night."

While the Jaguars took both regular-season meetings by a combined five points, with the final loss on Jan. 19 sending UALR (13-17, 8-12 SBC) to a 1-6 start in the Sun Belt. The Trojans come in to the tournament a different team, having won five of their last eight games despite the loss of second-leading scorer James White.

"Both teams are playing a lot different than they were back in late January," Graves said. "We've started to show more consistency in our effort and how we approach the game. I feel like we're a much better team.

"UALR has done a great job of really spreading the floor and they challenge your defense because at any one time they can put five guys that are either capable of either making a '3' or putting the ball on the deck and making it hard for you to guard. You really have to be aware and can't get spread out against those guys because they'll make you pay for it.

"Coach Shields did a tremendous job of getting his guys to that point, because it could have been really easy for them to quit when they lost a bunch of games in a row and had the injury to White, but they've battled back and have been playing some really good basketball."

The Trojans have two players averaging double-digit points: All-Sun Belt honoree Josh Hagins (12.1 ppg) and Roger Woods (11.7), who also leads the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg).

The two driving forces behind South Alabama's last two wins have been senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) and sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas), who each led the team in scoring in those two victories.

Ferguson had 20 points at Arkansas State and recorded his team-leading fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and a career-high-tying 14 rebounds against Troy. He shot a combined 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the floor and 13-for-16 (81.3%) at the free-throw line.

"I'm very proud and happy for Dionte," Graves said. "He has worked as hard as anybody on our roster from last spring to now. Everything he gets, he's earned. I'm excited by how he finished the season in the last two games. He was instrumental in clinching a spot in New Orleans with how he played at Arkansas State. He came back in the final home game on Senior Day and performed at a very high level for us."

Williams averaged 23.0 points last week, thanks to a 28-point performance in the regular-season finale. He is seventh in the league in scoring at 15.9 per game and is second in 3-pointers with 2.6 per outing. He was named Second Team All-Sun Belt on Tuesday.

"He did the work this summer—his weight room was good, his workouts were really good and came back in the fall in really good shape," Graves said. "He got off to a slow start in the non-conference season, but he refocused and was reenergized. When he's in attack mode and getting to the free-throw line, he's one of the top scorers in this league. Throughout the course of the conference season, he proved to be not only one of the best scorers in this league, but overall one of the best players. He was very deserving of that second-team all-league honor."

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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