After our Jaguars lost in a heartbreaker to Alabama State 82-81 last week, they look to get the momentum back coming into this match-up against a 4-21 Prairie View A&M. Despite the Jaguars being #1 in the SWAC, both teams are coming off a loss which may predict that these teams will play with a chip on their shoulder. Southern came out in the first half with suffocation and high intensity on defense, racking up 12 points off turnovers. Offensively, the Jaguars were shooting well from the 3-point line, shooting 44 percent in the first half. Senior forward DeMariee Jones had a team-high of 11 points, which would help them exceed their lead by 18 points, making it 40-24 going into halftime.
Coming out for the second half, Prairie View was finding their groove against the Jaguar defense, getting to the line and going 11 for 11 from the free throw. But that wasn’t enough for them to get past a tough Southern defense, with them having 7 total blocks and 9 total steals, forcing Prairie View to put up a total of 16 turnovers. The Jags dominated in tonight’s match-up, sending Prairie View home with a score of 72-60. Per WAFB, sophomore center Brentay Noel commented on whether the loss versus Alabama State was a positive to get them back re-focus. He said,” For sure, I feel like we needed that. As much as we didn’t want to take it, we needed that, almost like a wake-up call to get back locked in and finish the season strong.” WAFB also asked Coach Kevin Johnson about the adamant ball pressure and what influenced it in tonight’s game. He stated, “I thought we had some good bites on defense coming from last week against Alabama State, and we have been focusing on that, and to start the second half, we quit rebounding, we didn’t have tonight Dionjahe in the second half, he was hurt but I think I had some guys to rally to finish those guys off and I’m glad we got that W and we getting ready for Monday.”
The Jaguars will remain at the top of SWAC, exceeding their conference record to 11-1. After Monday’s primetime game against Texas Southern, the Jaguars will have 5 games left until the SWAC Tournament. The following schedule would be Away vs. Grambling, Away vs. Bethune-Cookman, Away vs. Florida A&M, Home vs. Alabama State, and Home vs. Alabama A&M.
