DENTON, Texas — South Alabama made two of its first 19 shots from the field and never recovered, falling 66-56 to North Texas on Saturday.
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 8-8 overall and 5-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. It was South Alabama’s first road loss in league play this season and its fourth straight defeat at North Texas. The Mean Green improved to 7-11 and 2-5.
Early Hole
Forward Augustine Rubit was whistled for two early fouls, and North Texas built a 26-7 lead in the first half. South Alabama shot 28.1 percent from the field for the game and 51.7 percent from the free-throw line.
“We got off to a slow start and I thought Aug’s (Rubit) two early fouls certainly took our team out of rhythm,” interim coach Jeff Price said. “When you shoot 28 percent from the field and you give up 17 points at the free throw line, it’s hard to win games on the road like that.”
Price said missed free throws were costly. “I think we missed eight points worth of free throws in the first half because some were frontends of one-and-ones,” he said.
Second-Half Rally
Trailing by 21 points in the second half, South Alabama went on a 21-6 run to pull within six with 1:55 remaining. North Texas made only one field goal over the final 7:47 but pushed its lead back to 10 at the free-throw line.
Freddie Goldstein’s 3-pointer cut the margin to 62-56 with 27.4 seconds left, but the Jaguars did not score again and North Texas closed the game at the line.
“This team will never die,” Price said. “They don’t miss shots on purpose. We won’t die and I thought we did a good job of showing character and fighting to get back in the game.”
Leading Scorers
Rubit and Goldstein each scored 12 points to lead South Alabama. Rubit also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Mychal Ammons added 10 points off the bench.
Up Next
South Alabama begins a three-game homestand Thursday against Louisiana-Monroe at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
