THE SETTING
The South Alabama Jaguars conclude its three game homestand with Sun Belt Conference newcomer Florida Atlantic on Saturday at the Mitchell Center. The Jags stand at 8-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while FAU enters with a 7-7 record and a 3-1 start to its inaugural Sun Belt campaign.
A VICTORY OVER FLORIDA ATLANTIC WOULD...
? Give the Jaguars an 9-7 record overall and a 3-2 mark in conference play.
? Give head coach John Pelphrey his 69th victory at the helm of the Jaguar program.
? Give USA its first win over Florida Atlantic in the first meeting between the two schools.
THE SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS
The Jaguars played the middle of a three game homestand against Florida International and used a second half spurt to defeat the Golden Panthers, 69-52. USA began the week with a disappointing home loss to Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, 59-51. Against FIU, the Jags showed no ill effects from poor shooting against Middle Tennessee as they shot over 50 percent for the third time this season.
Leading the way for the Jags this season is junior Demetric Bennett who is averaging a team-best 14.7 points and is second on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game. He is a team-best 79 of 175 from the field and 34 of 89 from beyond the arc. Second on the team in scoring is junior Ernest Little, who has had an immediate impact after transferring from UAB, has played in six games and had a team-high 17 points in his debut against Ole Miss on Dec. 16. He then had a career-best 20 points to lead the Jaguars to victory at Arkansas State last week. Little is averaging 10.7 points per game and leads the team averaging 7.8 rebounds per game. He has had back-to-back games of nine rebounds. Junior Daon Merritt is third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game. Merritt leads the team with 92 assists this season and has three games of 10 assists this year.
The Jaguars are coming off of one of the most memorable seasons in school history in 2005-06. USA won both the Sun Belt Conference West Division crown and tournament crown earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament where they fell to eventual National Champion Florida. Despite the loss to the Gators, USA had its best season in over 20 years with 24 wins, the second most in school history and had the nation’s biggest turnaround from 2004-05 to 2005-06. The Jaguars finished the season with a 24-7 mark and a 12-3 record in the SBC West Division.
Head coach John Pelphrey is in his fifth season at the helm of the Jaguar program. He took the team to new heights in 2005-06, winning the division, tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Pelphrey was named 2006 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. Pelphrey, the ninth head coach in school history, has a 65-58 record at South Alabama.
LAST TIME OUT - FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Demetric Bennett scored a game-high 17 points to help lead South Alabama to a 69-52 win over Florida International Thursday night.
Three other players scored in double figures for the Jaguars, who improved to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play with the win. Florida International fell to 6-8, 1-3.
A Stephen Cowherd 3-pointer tied the game at 16 for the Jags with more than seven minutes left in the first half. Brandon Davis was fouled moments later and made one of two free throws to give USA its first lead of the game at 17-16.
South Alabama closed the half with a 14-4 run to lead 31-20 at the break.
Daon Merritt scored 12 points, followed by Cowherd with 11 and Carlos Smith with 10 for the Jaguars.
The Golden Panthers were led by Johwen Villegas with 16 points.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC OWLS
Florida Atlantic enters the game with a 7-7 record and a surprising 3-1 mark in its inaugural Sun Belt Conference campaign. The Owls are coming off a tough 93-86 win at New Orleans on Thursday, handing the Privateers’ their first loss in conference play. FAU has won three of its past four and seven of its last 10 games after starting the season 0-4.
Leading the way for the Owls this season are three players in double figures led by DeAndre Rice who has played in just five games, but leads the team with a 17.6 points per game. Carlos Monroe is second on the squad in scoring at 16.7 and leads the team averaging 7.9 rebounds per game. Paul Graham is third in scoring at 15.2 points per game and leads the team in field goals made (71), 3-pointers made (21), free throws made (35) and assists (48).
Head coach Rex Walters is in his first year at the helm of the Owl program. Walters inherits a squad that went 15-13 overall and 14-6 in Atlantic Sun Conference play. Former head coach Matt Doughtery moved on to Southern Methodist after the season opening the door for Walters. The Owls have two starters and five letterwinners returning.
INSIDE THE SERIES
This is the first ever meeting between South Alabama and Florida Atlantic on the hardwood.
9 X 9 FOR ERNEST
Junior Ernest Little has now had back-to-back games of nine rebounds against Middle Tennessee and Florida International. Little leads the Jags averaging 7.9 rebounds per game.
HOT SHOOT’N JAGS
The Jags show no ill effects of a poor shooting night on Tuesday with their third 50 percent or better shooting night against Florida International on Thursday. USA was 27 of 49 from the field for 55.1 percent.
GOOD FROM DEEP AND FROM CHARITY
The Jaguars who had one of their worst performances from beyond the arc and from the charity stripe on Tuesday against Middle Tennessee followed with a good performance against Florida International Thursday. USA was 8 of 20 from deep for 40 percent and 7 of 10 from the free throw line.
BUBOLTZ DEADLY FROM DOWNTOWN
Senior Leandro Buboltz has been deadly from deep in two of the last three games. Against Arkansas State (Dec. 28), he hit his first four shots, including three 3-pointers en route to 19 points with five made 3-pointers. He followed that performance with hitting his first four 3-pointers against Middle Tennessee Tuesday for a team-high 12 points.
COWHERD HOT OFF THE BENCH
Senior Stephen Cowherd has been a key cog for the Jags in the last three games off the bench as he has gone 10 of 18 from the field and 7 of 14 from beyond the arc during the span. He has scored 8, 9 and 11 points, respectively in the last three games.
ALL JAGS SCORE
For the first time this season, all Jags who played in a game scored. All nine players who played against Middle Tennessee scored.
SEASON LOW FROM CHARITY STRIPE
The Jags were a season-low 3 of 9 from the charity stripe against Middle Tennessee Tuesday. USA has not been the same team from the line as it was last year. USA has been to the free throw line 239 times, making 144 (.603), while last year through 14 games USA had been to the line 298 times and made 207 for 69.5 percent.
JAGS START HOT, FINISH COLD
The Jags had a hot start to the Middle Tennessee game Tuesday as they jumped to an 18-7 lead, but a 20-5 run by the Blue Raiders gave Middle Tennessee a halftime advantage and helped lead it to a 59-51 victory.
TAYLOR BREAKS LEFT HAND
Freshman Brooks Taylor broke his left hand in practice and is expected to miss this week’s three games and there has been no timetable set for when he should return. Taylor has played in 12 of the 13 games this season and has scored 11 points.
LITTLE HAS CAREER NIGHT AGAINST ASU
Junior Ernest Little had his best outing against Arkansas State Dec. 28. Little, playing in just his fourth game as a Jaguar, led the team with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds in the Jags 91-78 win. He was a career-best 7 of 9 from the field and 6 of 9 from the charity stripe.
JAGS SHOOT WELL AGAINST INDIANS
South Alabama had its best shooting outing to date as it went 32 of 58 from the field at Arkansas State on Thursday for 55.2 percent. It was just the second time this season that USA has shot over 50 percent for a game. USA shot 51.6 percent against West Florida (Nov. 22). The Jags shot over 50 percent in 10 games in 2005-06.
JAGS SET SEASON-HIGHS
With an 80-56 win over Texas College on Dec. 19, the Jags set a number of season-highs against the Steers. USA posted 51 rebounds, including 29 on the offensive end, along with a season-best 20 steals.
MORE SEASON-HIGHS
The Jags set more season highs against Arkansas State. USA tied its season best with 91 points and 32 made field goals. Also season-highs were field goal percentage (.552) and 3-point field goal percentage (.480).
DAON DISHES
Junior Daon Merritt tallied a career-high 10 assists and his first double-double as a Jaguar against Morehead State (Nov. 17) with 12 points and 10 assists, becoming the first Jaguar since Demetrice Williams (1/9/03) to record 10 assists in a game. He followed that performance with another 10 assist outing against West Florida Nov. 22. In the last outing, Merritt just missed his fourth 10-assist game by one as he had nine against Texas College (12/19). He leads the team with 92 assists and a 6.1 average.
STEALIN’ JAGS
The Jags have been coming up with the steals this season as they have a 124-78 advantage in that area, including a 17-4 performance against UC-Irvine in the season opener and a season-best 20-11 performance against Texas College on Dec. 19. South Alabama has forced 266 turnovers by its opponents in 14 games compared to 194 by USA.
TURNIN’ UP THE PRESSURE
Despite a 82-71 setback at Auburn on Dec. 6, the Jaguars forced Auburn into a season-high 22 turnovers. Auburn turned the ball over on seven of its first eight possessions in the game.
REJECTION CENTRAL
Through 15 games this season the Jaguars have 41 blocks. Sophomore Brandon Davis leads the team this season with 17 blocks and junior Kenny Hooks has 10. Last season two players tied for the team lead in blocks with 12 and as a team, had 43 blocks for the whole season. The Jags had six blocks against Florida International on Thursday and junior Ernest Little had a career-high three rejections.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DEMETRIC
Junior Demetric Bennett had his first career double-double as a Jaguar against Samford on Dec. 2. Bennett led the team with 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in a come-from-behind victory over Samford, 59-54.
CAREER-HIGHS AGAINST WEST FLORIDA
Seniors Carlos Smith and Leandro Buboltz set career-highs in points against West Florida on Nov. 22. Smith led the team with 26 points, while Buboltz added 21.
BOMBS AWAY
The Jaguars had 11 3-pointers in the season opener against UC-Irvine and had 10 against Winston-Salem State and tallied a season-high 15 3-pointers against West Florida (Nov. 22). USA had 10 games in 2005-06 with 10 or more 3-pointers including a season-high 14 last year at Troy.
JAGS SIGN THREE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
The Jaguars signed three players during the early signing period. USA signed a pair of high school teammates in LaDarius Hall and Jamar Moore from Thomasville High School in Thomasville, Ga. In addition to them, the Jags also signed DeAndrae Ross from Lynnhaven, Fla. and Rutherford High School. All three are guards and could have an immediate impact in 2007-08.
KNOCKING DOWN THE TREY
USA has hit a three-pointer in 225 consecutive games. The last time the Jaguars were held without a trey was Feb. 6, 1999 in a 44-43 win over Arkansas-Little Rock. USA averaged 8.8 three-pointers a game in 2005-06 and averaged 7.4 in 2004-05. USA hit 11 treys in an 67-63 victory over UC-Irvine in the season opener and followed that up with a season-best 15 treys against West Florida on Nov. 22.
ON THE RADIO AND INTERNET
All South Alabama basketball games are broadcast on WNSP 105.5 FM out of Mobile. This season, fans will have the opportunity to get live web streaming of all home basketball games and selected away contests.
Log onto www.usajaguars.com for more information.
JAGUAR NATION LIVE AND ON DEMAND
This season Jaguar fans anywhere in the world can watch home and selected road men’s and women’s basketball games on their computers. Log onto www.usajaguars.com for more information on how to sign up for Jaguar Nation Live and On Demand.
THE COACHES SHOW ON MONDAY
Jaguar play-by-play announcer Lee Shirvanian and coach John Pelphrey host “The Courtroom” each week during the basketball season at Banana Docks Cafe in Mobile. The show airs on WNSP 105.5 FM. The show also can be accessed at www.wnsp.com. The one-hour show now returns to its normal Monday timeslot from noon to 1 p.m., beginning Dec. 4.
JAGUARS PICKED SECOND IN THE EAST
The 2006-07 Jaguars were picked second in the East Division by the coaches at the annual Sun Belt Conference Media Day Oct. 23 in Lafayette, La. USA garnered two first place votes and 60 overall points, behind Western Kentucky with nine first place votes and 73 points. Middle Tennessee followed USA with 55 points and one first place vote, followed by Troy (41 points), Florida International (23) and conference newcomer Florida Atlantic with 21 points.
In the West Division, UALR was selected first followed by a tie for second between New Orleans and North Texas and a tie for fourth between Arkansas State and Denver, followed by Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe.
BENNETT AND SMITH PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Junior Demetric Bennett and senior Carlos Smith were named to the preseason all-conference team at the annual Sun Belt Media Day. Bennett was named to the second team preseason all-conference, while Smith was named to the third team. Bennett had an outstanding first year at USA last season as he was fourth in scoring at 8.8 points and fourth in rebounds at 3.7 and fourth in total rebounds with 115. Smith played in all 31 games as a junior and averaged 7.1 points and 3.0 assists.
JAGUARS SWITCH DIVISIONS
In 2006-07 the Jaguars will be playing different conference teams twice as USA was moved to the East Division this past summer. USA will be in the East and now play an 18 game conference slate with two games against Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Troy, Florida Atlantic and Florida International. The West will feature Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, New Orleans, Denver, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas. USA will play six of the seven West schools once and one team (Arkansas State) twice.
JAGS ON TV
This season, USA is slated for television five times as of Dec. 20. USA will play two games on CSS one on SportsSouth, one ESPN Plus as part of the Sun Belt Conference TV package and a total of four on UPN 44 locally in Mobile. The Jags played at Auburn on CSS (Dec. 6) and played at Mississippi State on SportsSouth (Dec. 9), hosted Ole Miss in the Coors Classic on Dec. 16 on CSS and played one of four games televised on UPN 44 against Texas College on Dec. 19, as well as Jan. 6, Jan. 13 and Feb. 24. In addition, South Alabama will host Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 25 on ESPN-Plus.
