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The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are actually the second straight oppoent for UC from the state of Alabama. The Gamecocks compete in the Ohio Valley Conference for all sports. They are probably known best for their Football program, and their upset of Mississippi back in 2009. The Basketball program isn't exactly terrible, OK its actually pretty terrible. The Gamecocks have already started their season. They opened their season with a home contest against Miles College, a Division II school from Montgomery.
JSU Runs Past Miles College in Hoops Opener // Jacksonville State University
The Gamecocks (1-0) used an early 24-6 run to create some separation from the visiting Golden Bears (0-1) and never looked back, using a dominating inside game that produced a 42-10 advantage in the paint and a 19-rebound edge. JSU forced Miles into 19 turnovers and turned those into transition opportunities, enough to seal the Gamecocks' third-straight win in a season opener despite committing 22 turnovers on the other end.
After the home game friday they hopped on a plane to Huntington to take on Marshall. Just like Alabama State before them the Gamecocks are making it a regional road trip. They went down to the Herd Sunday.
Gamecocks' First Road Test Ends With 58-44 Loss to Marshall // Jacksonville State University
"We aren't going to hang our heads but at the same time, we are not going to be satisfied," Green said. "We did a lot of good things and if we can learn about the rhythm of the game we can get a lot better. We had some offensive possessions we would have liked to get back, but we rebounded the ball well. But when you have a night like we had at the free throw line and with turnovers in the second half it really hurts you."
In terms of personnel the Gamecocks are a small team. Make that a very small team. They have just one player taller than 6'6". The top players offensively are Tarvin Gaines (F) who is averaging about 13 points early this year. The other main threat offensively is Mason Leggett (G) who is averaging 13 points per game as well. The other interesting fact is that 10 members of the Jacksonville State roster are playing their first season of Division 1 Basketball. In short this game should get very ugly, very quickly.