Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – With just two games left in the regular season, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team goes into the final week looking for that win that will put the Jaguars into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

A victory Thursday at Arkansas State (7:30 p.m.) will send the team to New Orleans, site of the tournament. A loss Thursday and a win Saturday at home against Troy (4:05 p.m.) means the Jags will need some help.

"It's certainly nice to be able control your own destiny; that's what you want to have in your favor," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "Even though we're on the road, the bottom line and the message to the team is, if we win, we're going to New Orleans to compete for a conference championship. There's not any more or less pressure, we just have to understand that each possession matters and have the mindset that for 40 minutes, we have to be willing to grind it out."

The Jaguars (9-20, 7-11 SBC) have lost three in a row—all to the top three teams in the conference—and will have a week to prepare to avenge an overtime home loss to Arkansas State on Dec. 30.

"Having a long weekend off late in the season is a good thing," Graves said. "It gives guys a chance to get healthier and let's face it: nobody is truly healthy, but having a couple of extra days to be off your feet and rejuvenate yourself heading into that last week is certainly a positive. I think we've taken advantage of it being off this weekend and we came back and had a good practice on Monday. I think we'll be ready to go on Thursday night."

The Red Wolves (11-16, 6-12 SBC) have won two of their last three outings after a five-game losing streak. Both victories came at home over league co-leader Louisiana-Monroe and Texas-Arlington. ASU sits a game behind the Jaguars and need a win to keep its tournament hopes alive.

"They're going to be fired up and their backs are against the wall," Graves said. "They understand that more than likely, they'll have to win their last two games at home to get into the tournament. They'll come out with their best effort.

"We have to embrace and meet their physicality. Their two post players, Anthony Livingston and Nouhoum Bocoum had huge games against us in the first outing and they really controlled some things on the offensive end of the floor in the paint."

Livingston is one of two players in the conference averaging a double-double for the season, and is coming off a 20-point, 13-rebound performance in the Red Wolves' loss at Texas State. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds against South Alabama on Dec. 30, and ranks sixth in the league in scoring (15.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (10.0 rpg).

"He's a tough matchup for us; he's physical, can go inside-out and he had a double-double against us the first time we played," Graves noted. "We're going to have to do a great job of managing his opportunities. He'll get some rebounds and score some points, but we can't allow him to have a huge game."

The Jaguars' Ken Williams is seventh in the league in scoring (15.4 ppg) and second in 3-pointers per game. He had 21 points on four 3-pointers his last time out against Louisiana-Monroe, and has nine 20-point outings this season. Williams moved up to eighth in school history with 77 treys on the season, the most ever by a South Alabama sophomore.

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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