Denver remains in running for Western Division championship
With two games remaining in the Sun Belt Conference regular season, South Alabama has no chance of finishing in the top three in the Western Division standings and receiving a first-round bye in next week's league tournament at North Texas.
The Jaguars, however, could guarantee themselves a more favorable first-round matchup by winning one of the closing regular-season games.
The chances of that victory coming tonight against Denver at Magness Arena do not look promising for two reasons. The Pioneers are still in the running for the Western Division title, and they are 10-1 at home this year. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Denver (16-9, 10-3) is just one game behind Louisiana-Lafayette in the division standings with home games remaining against South Alabama and New Orleans. Two wins and a Louisiana-Lafayette loss at Arkansas State or Arkansas-Little Rock would give the Pioneers at least a share of the division crown and the No. 1 West seed for the tournament.
"This is probably the toughest road trip of the season," said USA coach John Pelphrey. "Denver is playing for all the marbles. If they lose to us, they've got no chance at the (division) championship, so they're going to be really charged up and ready to go in our game."
South Alabama (9-16, 5-8) played Denver tough a month ago in the Mitchell Center, losing 72-67. The game was decided in the final minute. The Jaguars had three opportunities to overcome a one-point deficit but missed two 3-point attempts and had a costly turnover that resulted in a Denver layup.
The Pioneers have been nearly unbeatable at Magness Arena. The lone loss was a four-point decision to Stanford on Dec. 13. They have won four of their six conference home games by at least 10 points. They beat Louisiana-Lafayette 79-72 at home and their closest league game was a 75-73 shootout with New Mexico State.
Another factor not in South Alabama's favor is Denver's 6-foot-10 Yemi Nicholson. The junior center is third in the league in scoring (19.4 points), second in rebounding (8.7) and first in blocked shots with 74.
"Yemi is probably going to be the player of the year in the league," said Pelphrey. "He's been terrific for Denver and then they have the two senior guards (Erik Benzel and Rodney Billups). Antonio Porch has done a great job for them at power forward. Denver has some real good players."
Benzel is Denver's second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game. Porch averages 13.2 points and Billups is contributing 9.6 points and 6.9 assists per game.
South Alabama enters tonight's contest in search of its third league win on the road. USA won at Middle Tennessee on Jan. 20 and at New Mexico State two weeks ago. The Jaguars are coming off a 77-61 win over Reinhardt College on Monday.
USA's leading scorer continues to be junior guard Mario Jointer at 16.9 points. Junior forward Richard Law averages 9.7 points, junior guard Jeffrey Collins 7.7, sophomore guard Stephen Cowherd 7.1 and freshman center Daniel Northern 7.
With two games remaining in the Sun Belt Conference regular season, South Alabama has no chance of finishing in the top three in the Western Division standings and receiving a first-round bye in next week's league tournament at North Texas.
The Jaguars, however, could guarantee themselves a more favorable first-round matchup by winning one of the closing regular-season games.
The chances of that victory coming tonight against Denver at Magness Arena do not look promising for two reasons. The Pioneers are still in the running for the Western Division title, and they are 10-1 at home this year. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Denver (16-9, 10-3) is just one game behind Louisiana-Lafayette in the division standings with home games remaining against South Alabama and New Orleans. Two wins and a Louisiana-Lafayette loss at Arkansas State or Arkansas-Little Rock would give the Pioneers at least a share of the division crown and the No. 1 West seed for the tournament.
"This is probably the toughest road trip of the season," said USA coach John Pelphrey. "Denver is playing for all the marbles. If they lose to us, they've got no chance at the (division) championship, so they're going to be really charged up and ready to go in our game."
South Alabama (9-16, 5-8) played Denver tough a month ago in the Mitchell Center, losing 72-67. The game was decided in the final minute. The Jaguars had three opportunities to overcome a one-point deficit but missed two 3-point attempts and had a costly turnover that resulted in a Denver layup.
The Pioneers have been nearly unbeatable at Magness Arena. The lone loss was a four-point decision to Stanford on Dec. 13. They have won four of their six conference home games by at least 10 points. They beat Louisiana-Lafayette 79-72 at home and their closest league game was a 75-73 shootout with New Mexico State.
Another factor not in South Alabama's favor is Denver's 6-foot-10 Yemi Nicholson. The junior center is third in the league in scoring (19.4 points), second in rebounding (8.7) and first in blocked shots with 74.
"Yemi is probably going to be the player of the year in the league," said Pelphrey. "He's been terrific for Denver and then they have the two senior guards (Erik Benzel and Rodney Billups). Antonio Porch has done a great job for them at power forward. Denver has some real good players."
Benzel is Denver's second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game. Porch averages 13.2 points and Billups is contributing 9.6 points and 6.9 assists per game.
South Alabama enters tonight's contest in search of its third league win on the road. USA won at Middle Tennessee on Jan. 20 and at New Mexico State two weeks ago. The Jaguars are coming off a 77-61 win over Reinhardt College on Monday.
USA's leading scorer continues to be junior guard Mario Jointer at 16.9 points. Junior forward Richard Law averages 9.7 points, junior guard Jeffrey Collins 7.7, sophomore guard Stephen Cowherd 7.1 and freshman center Daniel Northern 7.
