Game Notes

Game 31 • South Alabama Jaguars (13-17, 8-11) at Texas State Bobcats (13-15, 7-12)
March 5, 2016 • 4:30 p.m. • Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 36-58 (3rd year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. TXST: 1-4

Texas State
Danny Kaspar (North Texas, 1978)
Record at TXST: 35-55 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 281-196 (16th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama gave up 57 first-half points in a 92-79 loss at Texas-Arlington. Texas State defeated Troy 78-57.

NEXT GAME
Both teams will await their possible opponent in the Sun Belt Tournament.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 710 AM WNTM; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: www.iheart.com/live/newsradio-710-wntm-1 (audio)

RANKINGS (through March 3)
USA: #239 RPI, #250 Sagarin
TXST: #251 RPI, #230 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Texas State leads 4-1.

Current streak: Texas State, 3 wins
Last meeting: Texas State 78, South Alabama 67 (1/14/16)
USA's last win in the series: 63-53 (3/6/14)
USA's last win in Strahan Coliseum: None
TXST's last win in Strahan Coliseum: 82-71 (1/15/15)
USA's record in Strahan Coliseum: 0-2
USA's road streak: Lost 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 3

Notes: The two schools have met just five times in their history, all after Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference starting in 2013-14.

OPENING TIP
A win will put South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. A loss and an Appalachian State win over Arkansas State will also see the Jaguars qualify.

After allowing its previous four opponents to shoot just 22.2 percent from 3-point land, Texas-Arlington hit 12 times from behind the arc for 42.9 percent. The 12 triples are the second most by an opponent this season.

UTA also set USA opponent season highs with 57 points and 60.6 percent shooting in the first half.

Offensively, the Jaguars set a new season high with 12 3-pointers, getting five from Ken Williams and three from Shaq Calhoun.

Williams led all scorers Thursday with 22 points and fell one assist shy of his career high with seven. All five of his field goals were 3s.

South Alabama fell to 6-2 (5-2 SBC) when Williams scores 20 points or more. The team had won five in a row when Williams hit the 20-point mark.

Williams moved up USA's career scoring list to 11th with 1,257 points, and 13th in career field goals with 405. He needs nine field goals for 12th.

He also hit his 200th career 3-pointer, leaving him third with 202, six behind Demetric Bennett (2004-08).

Williams is averaging 20.4 points in his last seven games overall, hitting the 20-point plateau four times. He has moved up to seventh in the conference in scoring (15.8 ppg), and is eighth in assists (3.3 apg) and 3s per game (2.1).

Williams needs four assists for 100 this season. He would be the second player in the last eight seasons to hit triple digits (Barrington Stevens III, 2014-15).

Calhoun, who came off the bench to post 16 points, also recorded three steals, his 10th game this season with multiple steals. He is eighth in the conference with 1.8 per game.

Calhoun is averaging 13.5 points and shooting 58.8 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from 3-point range in his last two games.

Nick Stover's 16 points at UTA was one off his career high. In his last two outings, he's averaging 14.5 ppg and shooting 58.8 percent overall and 57.1 percent from behind the arc.

Emani Gant, Texas State's leading scorer at 13.6 ppg, has scored 22 points against the Jaguars twice in five career games, including earlier this season in Mobile. In the other three games, he's averaging 7.3 ppg.

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—