Game Notes

Game 14 • Georgia Southern Eagles (10-4, 1-0) at South Alabama Jaguars (7-6, 1-0)
December 31, 2017 • 3:05 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 58-84 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Georgia Southern: 4-3

Ga. Southern
Mark Byington (UNC Wilmington, 1998)
Record at GS: 79-67 (5th year)
Overall Record: 86-68 (6th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama used a big second-half to defeat Georgia State 86-64 on Friday. Georgia Southern rallied from a halftime deficit in an 86-80 win at Troy.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars open their Sun Belt road schedule Thursday at Texas State. The Eagles host Arkansas State.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); JagNationTV.com (video)

RANKINGS (Through Dec. 29)
USA: #251 RPI, #207 Sagarin
GS: #95 RPI, #97 Sagarin

THE SERIES
South Alabama leads 10-4.

Current streak: South Alabama, 1 win
Last meeting: South Alabama 78, Georgia Southern 66 (1/28/17)
GS's last win in series: 84-79 OT (1/9/17) in Statesboro
USA's last win in the Mitchell Center: 78-66 (1/28/17)
GS's last win in the Mitchell Center: 81-73 (1/10/15)
USA's record in the Mitchell Center: 3-1
USA's record at home: 5-2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 2

Notes: The two school's met in a home-and-home series in 2010-11 and 2011-12, both Jaguar victories… The 2010-11 game was the first between the two schools since 1980… The first three games in Mobile took place in Jag Gym… USA won the first three games in Statesboro, taking all three games by an average of 13.3 points, putting up 81.0 points per game… The first five games in the series took place between Jan. 12, 1978 and Feb. 12, 1980… The Eagles swept the season series in 2014-15, earning their first-ever victory in Statesboro, then the Jags took all three in 2015-16, including a 67-61 win in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is 1-0 in Sun Belt play for the second consecutive season.

USA is 7-2 this season when leading at halftime.

Friday's 86-64 win over Georgia State is tied for the largest of the season, and the biggest over a Sun Belt opponent since defeating Louisiana 88-64 on Feb. 14, 2013.

One game after setting a new season low with eight turnovers at Tulane, the Jaguars had 22 on Friday vs. Georgia State. The 22 miscues are tied for the second most this season, and it led to 20 GSU points. USA is last in the Sun Belt in turnover margin (2.85) and in turnovers per game (16.4).

USA is 3-1 in 2017-18 when committing 20-plus turnovers.

On Friday, the Jaguars set new season highs with 86 points, 12 3-pointers (tie), a 52.7 field-goal percentage and 21 assists, and the Jags' 21 assists on 29 field goals is their second best assist/field goal ratio of the year. The team has at least 10 treys in each of its last three outings, and is averaging 10.7 over that span.

Rodrick Sikes has made six trifectas in each of his last two games and ranks third in the Sun Belt in 3s per contest.

Jordan Andrews went 5 for 8 from distance Friday. He scored 19 points off the bench, his highest total since recording 20 at La Salle on Nov. 16.

Sikes is the first Jaguar to score 30 points in back-to-back games since Terry Catledge in 1984. Sikes has three 30-point games this season, the most by a USA player since Augustine Rubit had four in 2012-13.

Josh Ajayi recorded his third double-double of the year with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds vs. Georgia State. He is averaging 14.5 points in his eight-game double-digit point streak.

Ajayi needs six points for 500 in his career.

Herb McGee gave out a personal-best eight assists vs. Georgia State and added eight points.

Nick Davis rejected three shots Friday, giving him five games this season with at least three blocks. He is fourth in the league in blocks per game (1.8).

Georgia Southern is wrapping up a six-game road trip. The Eagles are 3-2 so far and have alternated wins and losses (won last game).

GS's Tookie Brown is averaging 19.4 points in his career vs. South Alabama, including 24.5 ppg in his last two games. Despite the high scoring total, he is converting just 35.3 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from 3-point land.

Brown is fifth in the league in scoring (18.8 ppg) and 3-point percentage (.475), fourth in assists (4.7 apg), first in steals (2.1 spg), third in assist/turnover ratio (2.1)

PREVIEWING SUNDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Georgia Southern
On what stood out from Friday's win: "I thought we hung true to what our identity is this year, which is on the defensive end. We did a good job of making them take one tough, contested shot, and we were able to do a great job of rebounding the ball defensively. We've shown so far this season that that's been a difference-maker for us on the defensive end of the floor."

On what worked offensively: "Once we got comfortable against their zone, I thought we did a tremendous job of being patient and sharing the basketball. We had 21 assists, and we scored it equally well from the '3' and in the paint. We had a really good balance with that. Sometimes against zone teams you end up shooting a large number of 3s, and we did a great job of having a good inside-outside attack."

On Georgia Southern: "They're extremely talented offensively. Tookie Brown, statistically this year, is off the charts with his efficiency and the way he's shooting the basketball from '2' and '3,' he's getting to the free-throw line, and he's making plays for others. We have to do a great job on him, but at the same time, we understand that they have other guys like Ike Smith, Mike Smith or Jake Allsmiller that are capable of scoring 12, 14, 16 points on any given night. The thing that's probably the most impressive to me, and where they've made great strides, is their ability to rebound the ball offensively. They do a terrific job of going to the offensive glass."

On Tookie Brown: "It's very similar to what we faced Friday in D'Marcus Simonds. He scored 27 points but he took 25 shots. We've got to make every point difficult for him and keep him off the free-throw line. He does a great job of getting in the paint and getting fouled."

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

—USA—