Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

1/27/2012 at 7:32am

UALR hit 10 three-pointers for the game and ran an impressive half-court offense to shoot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half, while it forced South Alabama into 18 turnovers in the Trojans most complete game of the year, a 75-50 romp over the Jaguars on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

In a game that never seemed in doubt after the Trojans jumped to a 20-9 lead, the UALR men stopped a two-game losing streak after they had won their first five Sun Belt Conference games. The victory sets up a home-court showdown with 6-2 and West Division co-leader Denver on Saturday night.

UALR downed Denver on the road three weeks ago 66-59, part of the Trojans 5-0 start in league play that included four road wins. At home, however, the Trojans had typically either played poorly or had blown what appeared commanding leads until Thursday night.

The Trojans shot 45.5 percent from three-point range (10-of-22) and led South Alabama (10-9, 2-6) by as much as 29 points after holding a 35-22 edge at halftime. UALR started the second half on a 17-4 run and the romp was on. The Trojans nailed 13 of 22 field goals (59.1 percent) and hit 10 of 10 foul shots in the second half as the closest USA closed the gap was 21 points.

Senior D’Andre Williams led the Trojans with 14 points, five rebounds, a game-high six assists and two steals. Williams and sophomore Chuck Guy combined for 10 assists against just two turnovers, helping the Trojans post a 16-7 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Trojan defense scored 22 points off the 18 USA turnovers.

Senior forward Courtney Jackson added 12 points in 19 minutes by going 5 of 7 from the floor and 2-for-2 from three-point range, while sophomore Will Neighbour totaled 10 points over 19 minutes in his return to the starting lineup. Freshman power forward Michael Javes added 8 points, a team-high 8 rebounds and 2 blocks as UALR broke even with USA on the boards at 30. South Alabama came into the game with a Sun Belt-best plus-8.2 rebounding margin.

Augustine Rubit, last year's league Freshman of the Year, led all scorers with 22 points. Rubit, the only Jaguar in double figures, hit 7 of 10 shots and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Five different Trojans hit three-pointers in the first 11:32 of the game as UALR grabbed a 24-9 lead.

USA whittled what had been a 19-point deficit to 13 with the last six points of the first half, but UALR silenced any Jaguars comeback hopes with a scorching start, thanks to good ball sharing setting up wide-open shots, to the final 20 minutes.

Tip off for Saturday's game with Denver is 7 p.m.

Tagged: Augustine Rubit, Courtney Jackson, D'Andre Williams, Chuck Guy, South Alabama Jaguars, Michael Javes