Week 14 Men’s Basketball Preview: South Alabama

The last week of January was a week full of nailbiters for the Jags, but South Alabama was able to do what they have done all year, they found ways to win. South Alabama sweeping the week with a 53-48 win over Coastal Carolina Thursday and a 69-67 win over Georgia State on Saturday. These wins improve the South Alabama overall record to 16-6 and the Jags conference record improves to 7-3. This enough to put South Alabama at second in the Sun Belt and just 0.5 games back from first place Troy heading into Week 14.

South Alabama at Appalachian State

The Jaguars continue their tour of red-hot teams from the Sun Belt East Division on Wednesday when they travel to Boone to take on an App State team that has won four straight. The Mountaineers’ most recent game was perhaps their best win of the year, a 66-44 road blowout of first place Troy.

The Mountaineers were able to hold the high powered Troy offense to their lowest score of the season, in large part due to their presence inside. The Mountaineers out rebounded the Trojans 38-29. They also completely shut down Troy from outside the arc, Troy only shooting 14% from three point range in the game Saturday.

Expect a very low scoring game in this one. The Mountaineers have built their identity on their defense this year, and the Jags’ defense is quite stout as well. App State’s scoring defense ranks first in the Sun Belt, and 14th in college basketball as whole, with the Mountaineers only allowing 64.5 points per game. South Alabama’s scoring defense ranks second in the Sun Belt, allowing just 67 points per game.

Both teams also do a great job of limiting turnovers, South Alabama only turning it over eight times per game compared to 10 turnovers per game for App State. The two teams do differ in how they score, though, with South Alabama attacking the paint with most of their points coming inside. App State, meanwhile, has a more balanced offensive approach.

Individually for the Jags, watch out for guard Chaze Harris and forward Adam Olsen, who both continue to put together great seasons. Harris ranking third in the conference in points per game (17.7) over 22 games.

Olsen is leading the conference in three point percentage at 37.8%.

App State has a very balanced lineup, but look for big performances by Kasen Jennings and Alonzo Dodd the two leading scorers. Jennings averages 15.5 points per game, while Dodd averages 12.7 points per game. They will have to be able to rely on Jennings and their other guards to score outside the paint, as South Alabama does a great job stopping teams down low.

App State will be forced to find away to take advantage of the South Alabama zone, which continues to allow the most threes against in the country.

Tipoff: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 5:30 p.m. CST

TV: ESPN+

Radio: Sports Talk 99.5 & The Jags Radio Network (South Alabama), WKBC 97.3 (Appalachian State)

Buffalo at South Alabama

South Alabama will return home on Saturday to host Buffalo in the second leg of the MAC-SBC challenge.

Due to their finish from last season, South Alabama was matched with Toledo in the first game to open the season in November. The Jags were able to go on the road and win in a close one, but now the second leg is based off of mid-season NET rankings. This led to the 182nd ranked Jags being matched up with the 172nd ranked Bulls.

Buffalo will enter this game 14-8 overall and 4-6 in MAC conference play. The Bulls won their first game in the MAC-SBC Challenge 85-79 against Southern Miss back in November. In its most recent game, Buffalo lost 95-83 to Ohio, which means the Bulls have lost six of their last seven games. They will take on 23rd ranked Miami (OH) on Tuesday prior to Saturday’s game in Mobile.

The Buffalo offense is led by a duo of guards who lead the team in scoring: Ryan Sabol and Daniel Frietag.

Frietag averages 20 PPG, second best in the MAC. Sabol meanwhile is lethal from three point range. He is shooting over 40% from three this year, and leads the MAC and ranks 12th in the country in three pointers made.

As a team the Bulls play very clean basketball, not many turnovers and very few fouls and shoot a lot of threes. The Bulls will look to play through their two guards and exploit a South Alabama defense that gives up a lot of threes. One weak point of this Buffalo team is their rebounding. The Bulls are one of the worst rebounding teams in the country and rank second to last in the MAC. They will have their hands full against a South Alabama team that scores most of their points in the paint.

Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 7, 3 p.m. CST

TV: ESPN+

Radio: Sports Talk 99.5 & The Jags Radio Network (South Alabama), The Varsity Network / Buffalo 1520AM (Buffalo)