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South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said he hopes to see improvement, more toughness from his team when it faces Georgia State tonight in Atlanta. Georgia State is 8-0 in Sun Belt Conference games, while the Jaguars are 1-7. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

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team, in need of a win, finds itself facing the toughest

opponent against which to accomplish that task.

Originally scheduled Thursday night but postponed until tonight because of weather, travel and safety issues, the Jaguars play

on the road tonight at 6 p.m.

That would be the same Georgia State team that beat the Jags 73-63 earlier this season. The same Georgia State team that leads the Sun Belt Conference with a perfect 8-0 record. The same Georgia State team that has won 12 consecutive games. The same Georgia State team that plays well on its home court.

Facing the Panthers will be a South Alabama team that has lost its past three games. A South Alabama team that has yet to win a game on the road this season. It is a South Alabama team that ranks last in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage but first in field goal percentage defense. It is a South Alabama team that needs to turn the corner quickly if it hopes to earn a spot in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which takes only the top eight teams.

The Jags should have a gameplan in place. Not only have the teams played previously, but South Alabama was working on its gameplan against the Panthers before the schedule shift. Sunday, the Jags returned to that plan and to seeking ways to be more productive and successful with their own play as well.

"We went through some initial game prep earlier int he week on Georgia State,'' head coach Matthew Graves said. "So, we'll certainly revisit that. It's certainly no secret what they're going to do. We're very comfortable with how we should attack them and what we need to do. We've just got to have players step up and go out and execute and play hard, play tough, and be together. That's the bottom line.''

Graves said the most disappointing aspect of his team's recent play is the approach the team has taken. He said the talent level is there to win games, but the approach is not where it needs to be.

"What's frustrating is just the overall lack of attention to detail,'' he said, focusing on the Jags' play in Saturday's loss to Arkansas-Little Rock. "The gameplan is there. It's not a lack of ability. It's a lack of not focusing on details and a lack of toughness. If you have those two things with the talent, you can compete.''

Tipoff for tonight's game is 6 p.m. CST.