South Alabama basketball fall to NAIA opponent Mobile, 83-74

Monday’s game vs. South Alabama was technically an exhibition for the University of Mobile, but someone forgot to tell the Rams that.

The Rams, an NAIA team, led by as many as 27 points on their way to an 83-74 victory over their cross-town Division I counterpart Jaguars at the Mitchell Center. The loss was the first-ever to Mobile for South Alabama, which was 9-0 all-time in the series before Monday and won 97-59 against the same program last year.

“They outplayed us for 40 minutes, and it wasn’t even close,” sixth-year South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “… It was bad. It’s the worst one I’ve been a part of in my career, to be honest with you. And it’s my responsibility as the head coach. I’ve got to get us to play better. I give (Mobile) credit, they did a nice job. But that was hands-down the worst any of our teams have played since I’ve been here and that’s on us.”

Mobile (3-1) bested South Alabama (0-1) in every phase of the game, shooting 60% from the field, including 69% in the first half. The Jaguars, meanwhile, shot just 21% in the first half — 35.5% in the game — and were outrebounded 39-33 overall.

Mobile — ranked No. 22 in the latest NAIA poll — scored the game’s first five points, and was up by double-digits less than five minutes into the game. South Alabama got back in it briefly with a 15-0 run in the second half, but never trailed by fewer than seven in the final 35 minutes of game time.

“We just couldn’t guard anybody,” South Alabama’s Judah Brown said. “They shot 60% from the field, 70% in the first half, which is just completely unacceptable. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and address — a lot.”

Brown led South Alabama with 21 points, 16 in the second half. Isiah Gaiter added 14 and Samuel Tabe 12 for the Jaguars, who made just 7 of 28 3-point attempts.

Pooh Frazier, a Mobile native and Vigor High School graduate, led the Rams with a game-high 23 points. Three other Mobile players scored in double-figures, with Ezra McKenna adding 17, Treylan Smith 15 and Damariee Jones posting a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“It means a lot,” said Mobile coach Darnell Archey, a South Alabama assistant under coach Matthew Graves from 2013-18. “It means a lot for me, because I coached here for five years, but it really means a lot to these guys. You know, when you’re the NAIA program in town, a lot of people look down at you in a sense. We don’t get to play in this type of environment a lot, so I told them to make the most of the moment. And those guys truly did that tonight.”

It was a stunning defeat for South Alabama, which reached the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game last season. The Jaguars returned two starters and just one other key contributor from last year’s team, but was picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt by league coaches.

But the Jaguars never got it together until it was too late on Monday, rarely getting off an uncontested shot and allowing the Rams to take the ball to the rim repeatedly in the early-going. Mobile scored 48 points in the paint, an extraordinary amount for a team playing up three levels in competition.

“It certainly should be a wake-up call, but we’ve got to get better,” Riley said. “… Not only is it a wake-up call, but it’s like an emergency call. Because it’s not like our schedule gets easier, and that’s not a knock on (Mobile). They’ve got a good team, but it’s not like our schedule gets easier. We’ve got to play way, way, way better.”

South Alabama returns to action on Saturday, playing at Buffalo at 1 p.m. as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The Jaguars also travel to Tuscaloosa to face defending SEC champion Alabama next Tuesday.

Mobile hosts arch-rival Spring Hill at 7 p.m. Wednesday.