Game Notes
MOBILE, Ala. – A three-game homestand could be the medicine the University of South Alabama men's basketball team needs to reverse a recent slide, starting Tuesday night against former Sun Belt Conference foe Denver.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Fans can watch the game on JagNationTV.com, listen at http://995thejag.com/listen, or get updates on Twitter (@SouthAlaMBK) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
"I'm excited to be back in the Mitchell Center for this next stretch of games," USA head coach
Matthew Graves said. "We're coming off of finals and a road game where we didn't play well on the defensive end. It's good to be back a short couple of days later playing again."
The Jaguars have dropped three of their last four after a 5-0 start, and are coming off an 87-78 loss at Stetson on Saturday. USA allowed a season-high 87 points and 51.7 shooting percentage, and permitted the Hatters to hit eight 3-pointers.
"I think we're going to go back to basic fundamentals that we were doing in October, reinforcing our proper technique and rotations," Graves said. "I want us to go back to playing with a lot more energy and effort. I want to try and get guys into the game a little more."
South Alabama's posts – seniors
Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) and
Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.), and freshman
Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) – combined for 42 of the team's 78 points Saturday. Boyanov and MuepoKelly had 16 points each, shooting 14 for 22 as a pair, and adding seven assists.
Boyanov is averaging 16.7 points in his last three games, while MuepoKelly is averaging 12.7 points over that span.
"I think Georgi, Don and even Josh on Saturday, they're starting to give us consistent scoring and rebounding," Graves stated. "The more consistent those guys play, that's going to continue help us be effective offensively. As our perimeter guys start to make shots, that'll help round out our offense. I'm really pleased with how well those big guys are playing inside."
Denver will be sporting a different look Tuesday with new head coach
Rodney Billups. Gone is the methodical Princeton offense, replaced with a more up-tempo scheme.
"They run a lot more sets and play more man-to-man defensively than the previous staff did," Graves noted. "They're tremendously talented offensively; they do a lot of things that put you in challenging situations, whether it's your ball-screen coverage or being able to defend (Daniel) Amigo, who's having a great year. They'll present some unique challenges for us."
The Pioneers are led by the inside-outside combo of
Daniel Amigo and
Joe Rosga. Amigo is coming off a career-high 33-point outing against Air Force on Saturday and is averaging 15.6 points per game and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Rosga paces Denver with a 16.3 scoring average and is shooting 48.2 percent from 3-point land.
"I think Rosga is one of the most talented guards that we're going to play," Graves said. "He has the ability to make 3s at almost a 50-percent clip, he gets to the free-throw line, he has a nice pull-up game and moves well without the ball. He's an outstanding player and it's going to take a team effort to defend him. If you let Amigo get deep post position with his size – he has a tremendous hook shot – we'll be in for a long night."
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).
—USA—
