Game Notes
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team will attempt to rebound from a loss on Monday when they take on Appalachian State Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.
Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. Fans can watch for free on JagNationTV.com, listen on 95.5 FM or iHeartRadio.com, and get updates on Twitter at @SouthAlaMBK or via live stats at USAJaguars.com.
"I think we've played some good basketball in our last five games," USA head coach
Matthew Graves said. "We're 3-2 with three of those games on the road. We didn't play as well as we would have liked Monday night at Louisiana-Lafayette, but I feel like we're in a good place."
The Jaguars (12-13, 5-7 SBC) have won two of their last three games, but their attempt to sweep a three-game road trip fell short in an 87-61 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette. The team shot just 33.8 percent from the floor and gave up a season-high 50 points in the second half.
"There's always something learn from a loss," Graves said. "The one thing we can take from that, is from a transition standpoint, we did a poor job of defending in transition. We allowed them to score 30 points in transition, and a lot of that had to do with our lack of focus because of our inability to make shots. We really got down on ourselves and we hadn't done that in a long time. It's just a reminder that we need to stay focused and it was a good lesson we needed to learn."
Appalachian State stopped a seven-game losing streak in style last weekend, defeating Georgia State and Georgia Southern, both of whom entered the weekend tied for first in the conference. The Mountaineers climbed out of the cellar in the Sun Belt Conference and are currently 8-16 overall and 3-10 in the league.
"App State and Coastal Carolina are both coming off great weekends where they won games at home," Graves noted. "They protected their home court and are playing their best basketball right now. We need to reciprocate and protect our home court. We know it will be a great challenge Saturday night."
App State ranks in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt in scoring offense at 74.7 per game, but has just one player averaging double-digits on the season:
Ronshad Shabazz. The sophomore, who is third in the league with 16.8 points per game, has hit double-digits in all but two games this year.
"He's an extremely talented scorer," Graves stated. "He has the ability to score on pull-ups, at the free-throw line and from 3-point land. He's got really good size too. Being a left-handed player, he's a little awkward to guard and defend at times. He's clearly one of the top scorers in the Sun Belt, so we're going to have to been keenly aware of where he is at all times.
"I think what you have to do, is going into the game with the mindset of being really aware where he's at, but at the time, they've got other good players that are capable of getting into double figures. Anytime you face a team on a two-game win streak and in rhythm, other guys start scoring and you cheat towards them, then you allow a Shabazz to go off and you're asking for a lot of trouble."
Griffin Kinney is just under the double-digit mark with 9.7 points per contest, and is coming off a season-best 25 points Monday against Georgia Southern.
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.
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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