South Alabama tops FAU

This is from Jan. 2007

Defense may win games, but it is the offense that turns them into blowouts. The University of South Alabama Jaguars used both on their way to a lopsided 101-76 victory in the first-ever meeting against Sun Belt Conference newcomers Florida Atlantic.

The Jags shot a season-high 58.2 percent from the field, including 14 of 23 from behind the arc. USA's offensive surge was led by Demetric Bennett, who was 7 of 9 from 3-point range en route to a 25-point night. Bennett credited the entire team for his performance.

"The team came out and we all played together," Bennett said. "Nobody tried to do it all themselves tonight. I feel if we play together, we are a real hard team to beat." Defensively, the Jags forced the Owls into 17 turnovers, outscoring FAU 28-11 in points off turnovers.

"I know they are not always going to shoot the ball like that," USA coach John Pelphrey said. "The balanced scoring needs to continue, the type of defense that was played for the majority of the game, especially the first half; that is where those guys have to go to if they want to have some repeat success."

USA opened by taking advantage of a 10-minute stretch in which the Owls scored only two field goals. The Jags built a 42-14 lead, highlighted by a rim-shattering slam by junior forward Ernest Little, who finished with 18 points. Three other Jags reached double digits in scoring. Guard Carlos Smith was 3 of 4 from 3-point range and hit 7-of-8 free throws for 20 points and fell just one assist away from a double-double. Daon Merritt scored 18 points, and Leandro Buboltz added 10 points

"We were so focused and everything just fell into place," Bennett said. "Guys hit me when I was wide open; we hit other guys when they were wide open; we got it inside, got a lot of fouls early. That opened up the outside."

After trailing 50-25 at halftime, Florida Atlantic settled down and began to chip away, cutting the Jaguar's lead down to 16 at one point and matching USA point-for-point in the second half.

"We had a tremendous amount of respect for FAU coming in here, with the start they have gotten off to, two road wins and being in first place right now on our side," Pelphrey said. "They are a good team. They have an extremely talented offensive machine and we were concerned about guarding them all."

The game was the third in five days. After dropping the first to Middle Tennessee State, the Jags won the next two to improve to 9-7 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.

"We lost the conference home opener, so we knew we needed to take the next two," Bennett said. "We wanted to get all three but after that poor outing against Middle Tennessee, we knew we had to come out and get these next two and tonight, all the guys came out and we knew if we wanted to be a championship team, we had to start playing together."