South Alabama men’s basketball led Texas by as many as 17 points in the first half Tuesday night, but the Longhorns outscored the Jaguars 53-32 after halftime, closing with a 20-5 run, to win 84-77.
Senior Augustine Rubit led South Alabama with 22 points and eight rebounds. He scored the game’s first nine points for the Jaguars and made the first two 3-pointers of his career.
Jaguars Control First Half
Texas scored the opening basket before South Alabama answered with six straight points, including one of Rubit’s 3-pointers, and the Jaguars built a 15-6 lead.
The Longhorns cut the margin to four with about 5:30 left in the half, but South Alabama responded with a 13-1 run and took a 42-26 lead.
Senior Antoine Allen made four 3-pointers in the first half, tying his career high. Mychal Ammons also hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.
Texas Rallies After Halftime
South Alabama still led 72-64 with about 7:30 remaining before Texas’ Holmes started a 9-0 run that gave the Longhorns their first lead since the opening basket.
The Jaguars answered with a 3-pointer to go back in front, but Texas tied the game at 75. Ammons put South Alabama ahead one final time with a layup. Texas scored the game’s last points, making two free throws and then converting a defensive stop into a fast-break layup on the way to the seven-point win.
Graves: “We Were on the Wrong End Tonight”
First-year South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said his team executed its plan against the Texas zone in the first half.
“First and foremost, I thought our team was well prepared,” Graves said. “Our coaching staff did an excellent job of having our guys ready. We came out and attacked well versus their zone early. We did shoot a lot of 3s, but at the same time, when we went back and talked about it at halftime, they were good shots. We’ve got an undersized ballclub, but we have five starters that are all capable of making 3s.”
Graves said the offense stalled after Texas switched to man-to-man defense. “In the second half, when Texas switched to their man-to-man defense, I was really disappointed with our ability to attack them,” he said. “I thought once we had them spread out a little bit, we ended up driving the ball too much and we didn’t make the extra pass like we did in the first half. We had 10 assists in the first half and two in the second half.”
“You have to credit Texas,” Graves said. “We had them down early and it’s a credit to them and their coaching staff that their players didn’t hang their heads and they came back and fought. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end tonight.”
Rubit Climbs School Lists
Rubit moved into sixth place on South Alabama’s career scoring list with 1,421 points, passing Demetric Bennett. He is tied for sixth in school history with 95 career blocks and is one made free throw shy of third place on the career list with 423.
Up Next
South Alabama returns home to face Southern Miss on Monday, Nov. 18, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile as part of the CBE Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
