Malerick Bedden had 15 points and six rebounds as South Alabama, using effective full-court pressure, beat New Mexico State 56-46 Saturday night.
With the Jaguars leading 51-44 and 3:32 remaining, South Alabama held the Aggies scoreless for three minutes and sealed the victory, which improved South Alabama to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies dropped to 7-7 overall, 1-2 in the Sun Belt.
James Moore led the Aggies with 17 points and nine rebounds a day after undergoing an MRI diagnostic for a bruised knee.
Chris Young had 13 points for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars, which led 33-26 at halftime, opened up a big lead in the second half as the Aggies made only two of their first 14 shots and trailed by 14, 46-32, with 7:54 remaining.
South Alabama maintained full-court pressure and installed a zone defense, that kept the Aggies at bay the rest of the way.
The first-half press netted four consecutive Aggie turnovers in the first 4 minutes as the Jaguars jumped to a 12-4 lead.
On the night, though, neither team lit it up offensively. The Jaguars shot 38 percent, the Aggies 31 percent. New Mexico State made seven of 26 shots in the second half.