MOBILE, Ala. ? One down, three to go.
After dispatching New Orleans Wednesday, three wins stand in the way of the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team and the NCAA Tournament. The sixth-seeded Jaguars take on Troy Sunday night at 9 p.m.
“Three wins and we’re in the Big Dance,” said head coach Ronnie Arrow. “This is the time of year that everybody feels like all the work they’ve done all year long will propel them through their tournament and into the NCAA Tournament. I think our guys know that there’s not a team that they can’t beat, we just need to show up and win three games and get to the Big Dance.
“From here on out, it’s money time. It is what you’ve worked for all year long. All your players should know their roles, everybody should know what they have to do for this team to be successful and we have to go out and do it three straight times.”
South Alabama escaped with a 62-60 win Wednesday, after letting a 16-point lead with eight minutes left dwindle down to one with a minute left. But a key Brandon Davis bucket and two free throws from Domonic Tilford helped USA reach the quarterfinal round for the fourth straight season.
“That game was indicative of our season,” said Arrow. “We need to start putting people away. We get somebody down and we start making mental errors and have defensive lapses and we let people back into the game. We’ve got to come and hit on all cylinders. Our inside guys have to finish and our guards have to shoot the ball from the outside and take care of the ball.”
Troy swept the season series, including a 94-70 win in Mobile. The season finale in Troy was a five-point contest that was not decided until the final moments.
“We know that our last game at their place could have been ours,” said Arrow. “If we make our free throws, we probably win the game or at least it’s a lot closer and puts a different complexion on the game. We made many mental errors with the ball ? too many turnovers ? and we did not get the ball inside enough to the right people where we could be successful.”
In that game South Alabama held Troy to a 2-for-17 performance from 3-point land, a season-worst by the Trojans. Troy came into the game ranked in the top 10 in the nation in 3-pointers while USA was last in the league in the Sun Belt in 3-point percentage.
“We’re going to show our guys the tape,” said Arrow. “What we planned on doing in the game was good and defensively we couldn’t have asked for a better game.”
Pacing the conference’s top rebounding team is DeAndré Coleman. The USA senior is the top individual rebounder in the Sun Belt at 8.3 per game and has grabbed 10 boards in each of the last four games. He has 12 double-digit rebound games this season and his run of four in a row is the longest by a Jaguar this year.
“DeAndré has been pretty consistent for us on the rebounding end of things,” said Arrow. “We’d like for him to be a more consistent scorer. He’s got to make his free throws.”
Davis has suffered through his two worst scoring efforts of the season, totaling just three points in his last two games while playing a combined 28 minutes. He is the team’s second leading scorer (12.7 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg).
“Brandon has got to catch fire now,” said Arrow. “He’s had a couple of lackadaisical games but he had a good practice Thursday and now he’s got to show up. He’s a major part of our team ? an all-conference player ? and when it’s money time, your best players have to show up and get the job done.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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