MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama men's basketball came up just short in a back-and-forth battle with Louisiana, falling 79-76 at the Mitchell Center Saturday afternoon.
The Jaguars fell to 8-10 and 2-4 in Sun Belt play, while the Ragin' Cajuns improved to 14-4 (4-2 SBC).
Isaiah Moore once again led the Jaguars in scoring, reaching 21 points on -10-of-15 shooting.
Marshall Kearing started his first game of the season, and he recorded a career-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds. Louisiana's Jordan Brown led all scorers with 23 points in a game that saw seven ties and 11 lead changes.
GAME FACTS (HOW IT HAPPENED)
- Kearing scored South's first nine points in the first five minutes, including a 3-pointer at the 16:13 mark.
- Moore scored six points for the Jags in a two-minute stretch.
- Two consecutive three-pointers by Judah Brown put the Jags back on top, 26-25, at the five-minute mark.
- A three-pointer by Owen White put the score at 31-25 with three minutes left in the first half.
- Jags take a 10-point lead off of a Moore layup with one-minute left in the half.
- Louisiana took the lead back, 45-44, at the 15:10 mark.
- A jumper by White tied the game, 46-46, with 14:29 to go.
- Jamar Franklin put the jags in a 49-48 lead with a three-pointer at the 13:49 mark.
- The Cajuns earned a 51-49 lead at the 12:44 mark with a 3-pointer.
- Franklin tied the game 51-51 with a second-chance jumper at the 12:44.
- A three-pointer by Brown gave the Jaguars a 62-61 lead with 7:35 left.
- Louisiana led 68-64 with five minutes left.
- Jamar Franklin put South in a 69-68 lead with a three-pointer with 3:52 to play.
- White tied the game, 72-72, with a three-pointer with two minutes left.
- Louisiana took a 76-74 lead with a layup at the 1:10 mark.
- A layup by Moore put the score at 76-78 with 16 seconds left.
- The Cajuns missed two free throws with nine seconds left, but recovered the offensive rebound and made 1-of-2 free throws with seven seconds to go.
NOTES
- Kevin Samuel's absence ended a streak of 50 consecutive starts for the center.
- White started his 70th consecutive game.
- Moore recorded his sixth game of 20+ points.
- Kearing recorded a season-high 31 minutes.
- Brown went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, career-highs in both makes and attempts from distance.
- The 11 lead changes are the highest in a South Alabama game this season.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach
Richie Riley
On the performance of
Marshall Kearing:
"I can't say enough about
Marshall Kearing. He hasn't been able to play a ton in the last ten games or so, and when he has played he hasn't played very well. We called on him today and we trusted him, and he really performed. I thought he played his tail off. He was impressive, tough and showed up to play against the best player in this league and battled him. I was proud of him."
On what the team can take from this effort:
"I told the guys in the locker room they earned a lot of trust –
Jamar Franklin,
Judah Brown and
Marshall Kearing. To see them do that in that type of game against one of the best teams in the league…to perform in a game like that helps my confidence in them."
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will hit the road for the first time in two weeks on Thursday when they travel to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of South Alabama men's basketball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaMBB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaMBB (Facebook), @southalabamambb (Instagram) or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at usajaguars.com.
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