MOBILE, Ala. --- With three road games under its belt the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team returns home to face city rival Spring Hill Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

Thursday’s tilt is the team’s first competitive game in Mobile since March and will be the second game of a doubleheader with the women’s team.

“It’s always good to play at home,” said head coach Ronnie Arrow. “I can’t think of a better place in the country to play than the Mitchell Center. “

The Jaguars enter the contest with a 2-1 record, defeating Houston Baptist (76-64) and Sacramento State (70-58) while losing to host Rice (71-69) at the Rice Basketball Challenge in Houston. USA rallied from huge deficits against SSU and Rice, but was unable to defeat the Owls.

“We had a chance to win all three games,” said Arrow. “Right now we have to correct whatever it is that’s causing us not to not show up and play the first half. We’ve had three really good second-half games and three sub-par first halves. We need to play a whole game.”

South Alabama will take on the two other Mobile colleges in the same season for the first time in its history. While USA and Spring Hill have faced off 17 times, with the Jags holding a 14-3 series advantage, South Alabama and the University of Mobile will meet for the first time in December.

“Hopefully it will bring in a nice crowd,” said Arrow. “If we’re going to play a non-Division I school, I thought that by playing the local schools they’d bring in some people. It should make for a good atmosphere.”

The Jaguars were a team of two halves in Houston, averaging just 27.7 points on 36.8% shooting in the opening half compared to 44 points and 50% shooting in the second. USA fell behind by double-digits in its final two games but managed to win against Sacramento State.

“I think that we’re so young that our mindset for the game is not where it should be,” said Arrow. “We might be overhyped rather than laid back. We get too up for the beginning of the game and once we come down from that high, it’s halftime and we haven’t played well. Then we go about our business and play well. Hopefully we’ve learned from that. We went 2-1 without playing a good first half. When we start putting two halves together we have a chance to do some good things.”

Key to USA’s success has been the play of its backcourt. Sophomore Allyn Cooks averages 9.3 points per game and is fifth in the Sun Belt in assist/turnover ratio, dishing out 10 helpers with just two turnovers.

“Allyn has showed us a lot of consistency,” said Arrow. “He has 10 assists and just two turnovers in three games which is phenomenal. He’s learning what he can do at this level as far as getting to the hole and pitching. As quick as he is, he should be able to get to the hole or make something happen to get other people open. He can be one of the top assist guys in the country.”

Senior Bryan Sherrer is tied for third on the team in scoring at 9.7 ppg on a remarkable 72.7% clip from the field. He hit all four of his 3-point attempts against Rice for 14 points. Junior Gary Redus II, also at 9.7 ppg, broke out against SSU with 19 points off the bench, going 4-for-5 from long range.

“Bryan is a rock,” said Arrow. “He is as steady as they come and Gary is a tall guard that can take advantage of his size against smaller guards.”

Spring Hill scores 85 points per game and has five players in double figures, led by Marcus Coleman’s 19.5 average. He scored 26 in the Badgers’ last outing vs. Auburn-Montgomery and racked up 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc in the Mitchell Center last December.

“They push the ball and score,” said Arrow. “We have to guard the 3-point line. Last year Coleman had 30 points against us and shot nothing but 3s. We have to get out there and guard him. They have a couple of other guards that can shoot the ‘3’ also.”

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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