South Alabama basketball returns to action Saturday at UT Arlington after a midweek break in the Sun Belt Conference schedule. The South Alabama men’s and women’s teams each had a week without a game, with the Lady Jaguars tipping off at 5 p.m. and the men following at 7:30 p.m. in Arlington, Texas.
Men Seek Second Conference Win
The Jaguars men are 7-12 overall and 1-5 in Sun Belt play under first-year head coach Matthew Graves. Their lone conference win came last week, an 81-73 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette that ended a six-game losing streak. Two days later, South Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe.
Only the top eight teams in the league standings qualify for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Graves on the Week Off
Graves told AL.com that the week of practice without a game came at the right time.
“It came at a very good time for us,” Graves said. “There’s no question that we’ve struggled. Even in the win against Louisiana(-Lafayette), we didn’t take care of the ball very well.”
Graves said the team practiced well early in the week, but Wednesday’s session was among its worst of the season. After the coaching staff reviewed video of that practice with the players, the team followed with one of its best practices of the year, he said.
Graves has told his players that wins will follow once they consistently do what the coaches ask and make it a habit.
“At the same time we can’t keep repeating the things that we do to not be successful because before long we’ll be talking that the season is over and we have underachieved,” Graves said. “And that’s something that we certainly don’t want to do.”
Travel Schedule
The men’s team was scheduled to fly to Arlington on Friday morning and practice later in the day, followed by a shootaround Saturday morning before the game.
Lady Jaguars Look for Consecutive Wins
The Lady Jaguars will try to win consecutive Sun Belt games for the first time since the opening of conference play when they face UT Arlington at 5 p.m. Saturday.
