1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
Sun Belt Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	20–7 (10–0 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Cliff Ellis (4th season);
Home arena	Jaguar Gym; Mobile Municipal Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Cliff Ellis, in his fourth year as head coach. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–7, 10–0 in Sun Belt play to finish in first place. They were upset by Jacksonville in the Sun Belt tournament, but did receive an at-large bid to the 1979 NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the Midwest region. In the second round, the Jaguars lost to Louisville, 69–66.^[1]

1978–79 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
South Alabama	10	–	0	1.000	20	–	7	.741
South Florida	6	–	4	.600	14	–	14	.500
UNC Charlotte	6	–	4	.600	16	–	11	.593
Jacksonville †	5	–	5	.500	19	–	11	.633
New Orleans	3	–	7	.300	11	–	16	.407
Georgia State	0	–	10	.000	7	–	20	.259

† 1979 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Rory White	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Tuskegee, Alabama
F	15	Ed Rains	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Ocala, Florida

Head coach

Cliff Ellis (Florida State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1978*		SIU Edwardsville	W 111–78	1–0	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Nov 30, 1978*		at Mississippi State	L 78–86	1–1	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Dec 9, 1978*		at Northwestern State	W 79–66	2–1	Prather Coliseum Natchitoches, Louisiana
Dec 11, 1978*		Georgia Southern	L 91–93	2–2	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 14, 1978*		North Park	W 75–68	3–2	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 18, 1978*		at UAB	L 72–75	3–3	BJCC Arena (5,483) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 27, 1978*		Austin Peay Senior Bowl Tournament	W 96–67	4–3	Mobile Municipal Auditorium Mobile, Alabama
Dec 28, 1978*		Louisiana Tech Senior Bowl Tournament	W 71–69	5–3	Mobile Municipal Auditorium Mobile, Alabama
Dec 30, 1978*		Wisconsin–Whitewater	W 111–90	6–3	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 8, 1979*		Houston Christian	W 97–74	7–3	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 10, 1979*		at UNC Wilmington	L 63–65	7–4	Trask Coliseum Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 13, 1979*		Charlotte	W 71–60	8–4	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 15, 1979		Georgia State	W 84–70	9–4 (1–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 18, 1979		at New Orleans	W 80–73	10–4 (2–0)	Human Performance Center New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 22, 1979		Jacksonville	W 72–61	11–4 (3–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 25, 1979		New Orleans	W 101–65	12–4 (4–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 29, 1979		at Georgia State	W 89–71	13–4 (5–0)	GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 1, 1979		South Florida	W 114–83	14–4 (6–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 6, 1979*		Florida State	W 78–61	15–4	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 8, 1979*		UAB	W 71–69	16–4	Jaguar Gym (3,159) Mobile, Alabama
Feb 10, 1979		at Jacksonville	W 72–71	17–4 (7–0)	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Feb 12, 1979		at South Florida	W 73–61	18–4 (8–0)	Curtis Hixon Hall Tampa, Florida
Feb 15, 1979*		Illinois State	L 70–77	18–5	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 17, 1979*		at Charlotte	W 66–63	19–5	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 24, 1979*		vs. Jacksonville Semifinals	L 77–85	19–6	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Regular season
Feb 28, 1979*		Northwestern State	W 97–91	20–6	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
NCAA tournament
Mar 10, 1979*	(6 MW)	vs. (3 MW) No. 18 Louisville Second round	L 66–69	20–7	Moody Coliseum Dallas, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[2]

References

^ "Rutgers, Syracuse Fives Advance". The New York Times. March 11, 1979. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
^ "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[1] "Rutgers, Syracuse Fives Advance". The New York Times. March 11, 1979. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[2] "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

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