FAU (6-20) @ USA (14-11) Saturday, FEB 14th, 2009 8:00 PM EST MEDIA COVERAGE Video on The Net : Live on Jaguar Nation at www.usajaguars.com . Radio : FOX 640AM – FAU @ USA 8:00PM Steve Bishop will call the action from Mobile on Saturday. THE SERIES South Alabama leads the all-time series with FAU 4-1, and has won three straight against the Owls. Most recently, South Alabama guard C.J. Garner blocked a tying 3-point attempt by FAU’s Carderro Nwoji with 4 seconds left and went the length of the court to score with 1 second remaining, preserving a 74-69 win over the Owls in Boca Raton January 1st: USA AT A GLANCE Team Site: www.usajaguars.com After losing three consecutive games at home, the Jaguars have won three in a row in front of the home fans. The team started 0-4 in league play at the Mitchell Center. Thursday was USA’s first game decided by one point since Jan. 28, 2007 (a span of 68 games). The team has played in four two-point games and four three-point games in this season alone. South Alabama has won 10 consecutive games against Florida-based schools (4-0 in 2008-09, 6-0 in 2007-08). Head coach Ronnie Arrow has a 9-2 overall record in February the last two years and 6-0 is at home over that span. USA continues to lead the Sun Belt in field goal percentage defense (40.3%). It will be going against the 10th-ranked offense in terms of scoring (64.7 ppg) and 11th-ranked in field goal percentage (41.5%). South Alabama is 12-1 when leading at halftime and 7-0 against Sun Belt teams when ahead at the break. FAU AT A GLANCE While FAU is 2-2 in its last four games, they have yet to win on the road, dropping all 13 contests away from FAU Arena. The Owls boast the conference’s leading scorer in Paul Graham III. The senior averages 18.0 points per game on the season but 20.2 in league play. “We have to concentrate on guarding him and be aware that he can go off for 25 points,” said Jags Head Coach Ronnie Arrow. “We can’t let him hit three’s and realize ‘Now we have to guard him.’ That’s the reason why we let teams get back in the game”. “Graham’s a good player but you can’t let him have the wide-open shots and have him feel good early and make his first couple of shots. We have to get after him from the start.” Alex Tucker is second in the conference in assists with 5.0 per game, and Brett Royster leads in blocks with 2.42 per game. The Owl trio are coming off of stellar performances against Denver. PROBABLE STARTERS USA 01 DeAndré Coleman F 6-7 235 21 Brandon Davis F 6-6 205 25 Ronald Douglas F 6-5 205 03 Domonic Tilford G 5-10 170 31 C.J. Garner G 5-10 160 Florida Atlantic 25 Paul Graham G 6-5 190 05 Alex Tucker G 5-11 160 12 Carderro Nwoji G 5-11 03 Chris Watson F 6-6 210 40 Brett Royster F 6-8 220 LATEST LINE USA – 9 OWL NEST PREDICTION “South Alabama is a very talented team that we could have beat (earlier in the year)…It’s going to be difficult to beat them on the road”, said Owl’s Head Coach Mike Jarvis. We agree. Unless the Owls have another shooting night like they did against Denver, the “guard only” option will prove to be a very tough hill to climb given the interior defense of USA. USA – 7
