ESPN Men's Basketball

MONROE, La. -- Augustine Rubit scored a career-high 32 points with 13 rebounds and South Alabama led wire-to-wire in a 77-72 Sun Belt Conference win over Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday night.

The Jaguars (7-6, 4-1) shot 59.1 percent (26 of 44), including 61.1 percent in the second half (11 of 18), one game after their worst shooting night of the season. In a 63-54 loss to Arkansas State on Dec. 29, South Alabama shot 27.4 percent (17 of 62), including 4 of 27 from long range.

Rubit was 11 of 12 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

The Jaguars outrebounded the Warhawks 39-15.

South Alabama built a 23-6 lead before allowing Louisiana-Monroe (2-8, 1-3) to close the gap to 31-28.

After the Jaguars built a 16-point, second-half lead, the Warhawks, led by Amos Olatayo with 18 points, closed to 73-69 with 1:12 to go, but could get no closer.