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MOBILE, Ala. – Texas State jumped out to a big early lead and used a 16-3 second-half run to defeat the University of South Alabama men's basketball team 78-67 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Bobcats end a two-game skid, even their Sun Belt Conference record at 2-2 and improve to 8-5 overall. The Jaguars are now 6-10 and 1-4.

"The first five minutes was a bad sign for us," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "Getting down 14-1 set the tone for the game. I was really proud though. Our guys fought back, got it to 32-32. They got a nice play there at the end of the half to hit a three, but the problem with that is when you spot a team 13, you play in catch-up mode the entire game, and in the second half we never could jump out on top of them. We wasted a couple possessions early in the second half. They got back into a 10-point lead, and from there we'd score a couple, then they'd score a couple, and the game ended the way it did.

"The most disappointing thing for me is we're 0-3 on our home floor, and we talked in the locker room. You've got to take more pride in playing at home, wearing the white uniform, and until we start to do that, we've got a long way to go."

South Alabama junior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) scored his 1,000th career point and paced the team with 13 points, 11 in the second half.

"It's a wonderful accomplishment for Ken halfway through his junior year to score 1,000 points," Graves noted. "He's a really good scorer for us, and I'm sure if you asked him, he'd certainly trade some of those points for some more wins at this point. I'm really proud of that, and he should be proud of that milestone. Hopefully, by the time he's out of here, he'll have another 1,000 for us."

Emani Gant led all scorers with 22 points – 13 after halftime – and grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds. Ethan Montalvo added 18 on four 3-pointers.

"(Montalvo) did a great job moving without the ball," Graves said. "He's a really good player, and there's a reason they got beat as bad as they did at Appalachian State without him playing. He's a big key to their team, and early, we did a decent job finding him. I think he was 2-7 in the first half. Then he got loose, comfortable, and got going, and by the end he had 18."

The Bobcats scored 14 of the first 15 points of the contest, including 12 in a row, but the Jaguars answered with nine in a row and later tied the game at 32-32 in the waning moments of the first half before a triple from Montalvo just before the buzzer gave Texas State a 35-32 lead going into the break.

Texas State maintained at least a three-point cushion after halftime, then scored 11 unanswered points thanks to three treys to stretch its advantage to 15. The spurt eventually got to 16-3 after a put-back layup from Anthony Roberson for a 61-44 lead with 8:46 to play.

"We failed to convert two transition opportunities, one was a 3-on-2, and the other was a forced 2-on-3 when we really should have hit the abort button," Graves stated. "Guys were trying to make the right play, and sometimes the right play is to back it out and get set. We just got really frustrated with when they scored a couple baskets, we sped up on offense instead of slowing down and getting the right shot for the right person. We let some adversity affect our play for that moment."

USA countered with a 7-0 spurt, but Texas State went on a 9-1 run to go back up 18. The Jags attempted a last-ditch comeback in the final four minutes, using a 15-4 rally to get to 74-67 with 22.9 seconds left, but the Bobcats made four of its last five attempts at the free-throw line to ice the win.

Jaguar junior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored 11 points and junior Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) added 10.

South Alabama hosts Texas-Arlington Saturday at 4:05 p.m.

NOTES: Texas State shot 49.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point land after South Alabama had allowed its previous two opponents to convert only 31.7 percent overall and 22.9 percent from distance… USA is 1-8 this season when scoring fewer than 70 points, and 0-9 when being outshot… The Jags' 52.9 defensive rebounding percentage (18 defensive rebounds vs. 16 UTA offensive rebounds) is a new season low… Gant has scored 22 points against South Alabama twice in his last three games, and Montalvo is averaging 15.7 points in the last three games in the series… Williams dished out a team-best four assists, leading the team in the category for the ninth time this year… Sophomore Nick Davis (Mt. Vernon, Ala.) had a team-best three steals, his first three of the season… The Jaguars fall to 3-1 when shooting 50 percent or better in the second half (14 for 28), and 0-7 when allowing the opposition to convert 50 percent or better (14 for 27).

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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