Southern looks for home win vs Alabama A&M

Alabama A&M (5-12, 2-4) vs. Southern (7-13, 4-3)

F.G. Clark Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Monday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern looks for its eighth straight win over Alabama A&M at F.G. Clark Center. The last victory for the Bulldogs at Southern was a 70-63 win on Jan. 23, 2010.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Alabama A&M has benefited heavily from its freshmen. Cameron Alford, Garrett Hicks, Cameron Tucker, TJ Parham and EJ Williams have collectively accounted for 69 percent of the team’s scoring this season and 81 percent of all Bulldogs points over the last five games.

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Jaguars have given up just 64.1 points per game to conference opponents so far, an improvement from the 77.8 per game they allowed to non-conference opponents.ACCURATE ALFORD: Alford has connected on 26.1 percent of the 69 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 5 of 24 over his last five games. He’s also made 73.8 percent of his foul shots this season.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Jaguars have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bulldogs. Southern has 47 assists on 76 field goals (61.8 percent) over its previous three games while Alabama A&M has assists on 39 of 74 field goals (52.7 percent) during its past three games.

BALL SECURITY: The diligent Alabama A&M offense has turned the ball over on 16 percent of its possessions, the 18th-best mark in Division I. 20.9 percent of all Southern possessions have resulted in a turnover (the Jaguars are ranked 282nd, nationally).