Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore Josh Ajayi recorded his fourth double-double of the year to help the Jaguars come back from an eight-point deficit in the second half and defeat Coastal Carolina 60-57 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

Ajayi scored 18 points and set a new season high with 12 rebounds. He shot 6 for 10 from the floor and 2 for 3 from 3-point territory. He was joined in double-digit points by junior Rodrick Sikes who tallied 15.

Down 46-38 midway through the second half, Sikes and Ajayi combined for nine points in a 15-4 Jaguar run for a 53-50 lead. Ajayi started it with a trey, then the pair combined for the last six points, with the last two from Ajayi coming with 4:31 remaining.

The Chanticleers (7-13, 1-6) got two free throws on the other end, but Ajayi nailed another triple and the Jaguars (10-9, 3-3) stretched their advantage to six before CCU's 3-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final points.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama scored 10 of the game's first 12 points to jump out to a 10-2 lead, but Coastal Carolina closed the half on a 12-4 run and went into halftime up 34-28
- CCU's Zac Cuthbertson, who was held to 10 points – 6.1 below his season average entering the contest – recorded six straight points to put the Chanticleers up 46-38 with 12:53 left
- Ajayi answered with a trifecta to start a run of nine unanswered points for a 47-46 lead
- A Jaylen Shaw layup gave CCU the lead again, and Cuthbertson tacked on two free throws, but Sikes and Ajayi scored the next six to give the Jags a lead they would not relinquish
- Demario Beck led Coastal Carolina with 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench
- CCU converted 24.1 percent (7-29) of its shots in the second half, including 6.7 percent (1-15) from 3-point land

NOTES
- The win was the program's 799th in school history; the Jaguars are 799-627 all-time
- South Alabama rallied to win when trailing at the half for the first time all season (1-7), and tied its season high for biggest comeback (8 vs. New Orleans)
- Coastal Carolina's second-half shooting percentage and 3-point percentage are the lowest by a Division I opponent this season
- Tonight was USA's third win this season when shooting less than 40 percent from the floor, and seventh when scoring fewer than 70 points
- The team's seven wins when scoring fewer than 70 points ties the most in a season since recording eight such victories in 2008-09 (2009-10, 2011-12)
- The Jaguars recorded their fourth double-digit steal performance (10) of the season, and first in league play
- Sikes has scored 10 points or more in each of his last 18 games, and has scored 15 or better in his last eight
- Ajayi's 18 points are two more than he had in the previous three games combined (16)
- USA outrebounded a Division I opponent for just the second time in the last eight games; CCU entered the night ranked second in the Sun Belt in rebounding margin (+6.7), defensive rebounding percentage (.739) and offensive rebounding percentage (.356)
- After shooting 5 for 22 from distance tonight, the Jags are converting 17.5 percent (7-40) from behind the arc in the last two games

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matthew Graves
Opening statement: "I'm very pleased with coming out with the win. There are certainly a lot of areas to improve upon, but the one thing I can't stress enough was how our guys responded defensively in the second half. We really locked down and made it hard for them to get anything easy. We contested a lot of shots and kept them off the 3-point line. Then we rebounded at a very good rate for us. So overall, I'm very pleased with our effort defensively. Our offense will be better. We'll continue to work on it. Missing Nick Davis tonight hurt us with our rotation, especially in the first half when we turned it over 12 times with guys in different positions. We settled down in the second half and only had six turnovers and we were much more effective."

On the defensive effort: "We talk about it every practice. Our defense has got to be our identity. It's no secret that we're not this offensive juggernaut that's going to put up 80 to 85 points. We've got to be blue-collar. We've got to be gritty. We've got to be nasty defensively. That's what we did tonight, especially in the second half. As we move forward in conference, we've got to go into every night thinking that we can guard and hold teams down to a low percentage. Once our offense kicks in, we're going to be a tough out the rest of the way."

On Josh Ajayi: "I thought Josh did a really nice job for us tonight. He was one of our guys that didn't practice last week and played in the Troy game and was very sluggish. You can tell his energy is back and he had a pep in his step tonight and had a lot more energy. That's the Josh we need: a guy who that can get us 15 to 18 points and double-digit rebounds and be active. I was really proud of the way Josh bounced back tonight."

UP NEXT
South Alabama wraps up its four-game homestand Saturday at 3:05 p.m. against Appalachian State. The school will be celebrating its 50th season of men's basketball, and will retire the jerseys of Jeff Hodge and Junie Lewis at halftime.

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—