PHILADELPHIA – Down by 23 early in the second half, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team got as close as five in the late stages but was unable to get over the hump in an 81-73 loss to La Salle Thursday night at Tom Gola Arena.

The Jaguars used a 14-0 run to trim a 21-point deficit down to seven with 7:35 left, and trailed by five twice, with 2:19 and 1:21 to play, but Amar Stukes hit a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining to close out the scoring.

Three Jags set new career highs in scoring. Sophomore Jordan Andrews recorded 20 points on four 3-pointers, junior Rodrick Sikes had 17 points, and sophomore Herb McGee added 12 and five assists.

GAME FACTS
- The Explorers never trailed, scoring the game's first 10 points, and posted 12 unanswered points to take a 34-13 lead with six minutes to go before halftime
- A 3-pointer from Pookie Powell put La Salle up 65-44 with 10:24 remaining, but South Alabama went to work from there, scoring the next 14 points thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Sikes and senior Nick Davis, a layup from sophomore Trhae Mitchell, and a triple and a three-point play from Andrews
- Andrews' three-point play was his 15th point of the second half and left the Jags trailing 65-58 with 7:35 left
- A trifecta from Sikes and a free throw from McGee pulled the Jaguars with 76-71 with 2:19 on the clock, but B.J. Johnson got a dunk on the other end for a seven-point advantage
- Sikes and Andrews missed two opportunities to get closer, but Sikes did get a put-back with 1:21 left to make it a 78-73 contest
- Stukes' reply came 17 seconds later which marked the final points of the contest

NOTES
- Thursday was the first meeting between the two schools
- South Alabama's 16 turnovers are a new season low
- Mitchell grabbed a team-high six rebounds, giving him 13 over his last two games, the most in a two-game stretch in his career
- By going 2 for 2 from the free-throw line, Andrews is now 16 for 16 this season
- The Jags' 12 3-pointers tie the team's most since making 17 at Rice in 2013-14
- In addition to Andrews' four triples, Sikes and McGee had three treys apiece
- South Alabama shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the second half, including 9 for 17 from distance
- La Salle won the battle of the boards 38-30 and had 12 offensive rebounds to South Alabama's five
- McGee set a new personal best with five assists – he did not have an assist in either of his first two games this season
- The Explorers missed just one of their 18 attempts from the charity stripe
- USA shot a season best 75 percent from the line

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matthew Graves
Opening statement: "I thought in the first half we played very hesitant and tentative. Their physicality in the first half took us out of what we wanted to do. We didn't go at the pace we needed offensively, and with them switching a lot of our stuff, we became stagnant and stood around on offense. It translated defensively in the first half – when we weren't scoring the ball, we weren't defending as well, and that's something you can't do against a really good team on the road. In the second half, we came out and we started hitting back a little bit on that physicality. We made some shots, but we played at a much better and more smooth pace offensively, even with a smaller lineup. I thought our guys did a good job for the most part, hitting bodies and keeping them off the glass."

On the second half comeback: "La Salle was playing really small with Johnson at the '5' and that forced our hand to play small as well. Our offense was a lot faster, we moved the ball around and didn't get stagnant. They weren't able to have success being physical and switching screens because we were doing a good job reading and slipping screens, and getting our guys open looks. If we are able to continue to play at that pace, I think it's really going to help our offense moving forward. We should've gained some confidence knowing we can play at that pace."

On the difficulties in stopping Johnson: "He's such a difficult matchup because he's a small forward that plays '3' through '5.' If you put a smaller guy on him, he can take them off the dribble. He's deceptively quick and left-handed, which throws people off. He's an extremely versatile scorer, as we saw tonight. In the Sun Belt, he'd be vying for the player of the year award – he's that good."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will continue their northeastern road swing Saturday against Maine at the Mohegan Sun Casino at 4 p.m. CST.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

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