Game Notes
Tournament Central
Bracket
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team will open the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday evening against Georgia Southern at Lakefront Arena.
Fans can watch the action on ESPN3.com and follow via live stats from the Sun Belt Conference's Tournament Central page. J.D. Byars will call the action on 710 AM and iHeartRadio.com, and updates will be provided on Twitter at @SouthAlaMBK.
The eighth-seeded Jaguars enter the tournament with a 13-18 overall record and an 8-12 mark in the conference; the Eagles are the fifth seed at 14-16 and 10-10. The winner will face No. 4 seed Louisiana-Lafayette Friday at 5 p.m.
"I like our draw; we certainly feel like we match up well with Georgia Southern," USA head coach
Matthew Graves said. "It will certainly be a challenge with their ability to score the basketball from a lot of people, so we're going to need a really heavy defensive mindset and focus. If we can rebound the basketball, I think that's going to give us our best chance to advance."
South Alabama swept the season series with Georgia Southern, earning a six-point win in Statesboro before fending off a late rally in Mobile for an 80-76 victory.
"I don't really buy into the 'it's hard to beat a team three times' theory, because the second time we played them, they were without their third-leading scorer, and we played without
John Brown, so circumstances and venues change," Graves said. "We just understand we have to play 40 minutes of really good basketball if we want to advance."
Coming off two straight games with at least 79 points, the Jags were held to 57 in the regular-season finale at Texas State. Junior
Ken Williams (Houston, Texas), was held to nine points, his first single-digit performance in seven games.
Williams averaged 18.5 points against the Eagles during the regular season, and is averaging 19.5 points against them in his career.
"With the way Georgia Southern guards, they like to do a lot of switching, so we need to be patient, move the ball, get the matchup we want, and then attack," Graves commented. "We can't settle early in the shot clock; we need to drive the ball, be aggressive, and take advantage of different mismatches that will present themselves because of the switching.
"Ken has been really good at taking advantage of those opportunities, and getting to the free-throw line has been a huge key to that."
GS lost its last two games going into the tournament, but were 9-3 in the 12 games prior, with two losses coming from Little Rock and a third to USA.
The Eagles are one of two SBC schools to have to players in the top 10 in scoring average.
Tookie Brown, the league's freshman of the year, is fourth at 17.9 ppg, and
Mike Hughes is ninth at 15.1 ppg.
"I think what makes Georgia Southern tough is they're very well coached, especially on the offensive end," Graves said. "Brown and Hughes have the ability to score 25-plus points in any given game. When you have two guys that are that explosive, it's a dangerous matchup. As we saw the second time we played them, a 19-point lead can evaporate in a matter of minutes when you're up against a team that is that explosive offensively, especially from the 3-point line."
Brown averaged just 3.0 points in the first half of the two regular-season meetings, but averaged 13.5 after halftime. He has scored in double digits in every game but two this season, and has gone over 20 points nine times.
"You have to pay him a lot of attention," Graves noted. "He can hurt you in transition, with his 3-point shooting, getting in the paint and at the free-throw line. You have to pay him a great deal of attention, but yet, be able to find their other shooters. They really put you in a dilemma with their ability to spread the floor offensively."
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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