# 1978–79 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

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.

## 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. ||||||