Up next: UALR hosts South Alabama on Thursday at the Jack

BURN THE HORSE
South Alabama
at UALR
 7 p.m. Thursday
Jack Stephens Center

UALR hosts South Alabama on Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in a game the Trojans need to win badly.

South Alabama is a team that got off to a great start in the non-conference play but has floundered in Sun Belt Conference play. But the Jags have potential and have been a very good team on the road this season. South Alabama comes in with a 4-3 road record, including 2-1 in the Sun Belt. That includes victories at LSU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy.

Gone are many of the cast of Twitter-loving characters that populated last year’s squad that saw its season end in a loss to UALR on the auxiliary court at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Augustine Rubit (left)
The Jaguars aren’t particularly big, but they’re athletic and have a +8 rebounding margin over their opponents. It starts with 6-6 sophomore Augustine Rubit, who averages 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He can shoot and rebound and get to the free throw line. He’s been there 96 times this season, 38 more than any other Jaguar.

Javier Carter is the other forward at 6-6 and averages 7.0 points and 5.1 rebounds. Carter is a shot-blocking machine with 56 coming into Thursday’s game.

Mychal Ammons has been a nice addition this year. The 6-5 freshman averages 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Trey Anderson, a 6-3 junior, has been starting. But we’re hearing he might give way to 5-8 junior Jose Diaz on Thursday. Diaz has only played in seven game and is averaging 1.4 points.

Freddie Goldstein
The other guard might be the guy with the most potential. Freddie Goldstein, a 5-10 junior, averages 10.8 points per game. He shoots a team best 37 percent from beyond the three-point line and has taken 66 more attempts than anyone else on the team. He’s also been feast or famine. He made 9 of 16 three-pointers in a 30-point game at Troy. He also went 0 of 10 from the field (0 of 5 from three) last time out against Middle Tennessee.

There’s similar size coming off the bench in 6-7 senior Antoine Lundy, 6-6 junior De Andre Hersey and 6-5 junior Wendell Wright. Lundy averages 8.6 points and 6.8 rebounds. Dallas Jones, a 6-4 sophomore, is the second best three-point shooter at 26 percent.