Game Notes

Game 20 • Appalachian State Mountaineers (8-11, 3-3) at South Alabama Jaguars (10-9, 3-3)
January 20, 2018 • 3:05 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 61-87 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. App State: 4-1

Appalachian St.
Jim Fox (SUNY Geneseo, 1995)
Record at App State: 38-71 (4th year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama rallied from eight down to defeat Coastal Carolina 60-57. Appalachian State fell 60-59 at home to Georgia Southern.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars open a three-game road trip Thursday at Louisiana. The Mountaineers return home to host Little Rock.

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

RANKINGS (Through Jan. 18)
USA: #242 RPI, #229 Sagarin
App: #238 RPI, #250 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 4-1.

Current winning streak: South Alabama, 3 wins
App State's last win in series: 64-53 (1/22/15) in Boone
Last meeting: South Alabama 87, Appalachian State 74 (2/18/17)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 87-74 (2/18/17)
App State's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 3-0
USA's home streak: Won 3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 3 / 1

Notes: The two schools split a pair of games in 2014-15, the first two in the series, with each team winning at home, before the Jaguars swept the 2015-16 season series and the only meeting between the two schools last year.

OPENING TIP
Saturday will culminate a two-day celebration of the 50th season of South Alabama men's basketball. At halftime, the jerseys of Jeff Hodge and Junie Lewis will be retired, and all throughout the game, alumni of the program will be recognized.

South Alabama is going for its 800th win in program history. The Jaguars are 799-627 in 50 seasons of basketball.

Appalachian State is on a week-long break after having their game Thursday at Troy postponed due to inclement weather. They will play the Trojans Monday night.

Thursday's win marked USA's first this season when trailing at halftime (1-7), and tied the team's season high for biggest comeback (8 vs. New Orleans).

Coastal Carolina's shooting percentage of .241 and 3-point percentage of .067 in the second half are the lowest by any opponent after halftime this season (min. 5 3-point attempts).

The Jaguars lead the Sun Belt in 3-point defense (.281) and blocks (4.6), and are second in field-goal defense (.396) and third in scoring defense (65.6). Nationally, the team is third in 3-point defense, 25th in field-goal defense and 40th in scoring defense.

South Alabama improved to 7-5 this season when scoring fewer than 70 points. The team's seven such wins ties the most in a season since recording eight in 2008-09 (2009-10, 2011-12).

In the Jags' 86-64 win over Georgia State, the team shot a season-best 50.0 percent (10-20) from 3-point land and concluded a three-game stretch of 43.2 percent shooting from distance and an average of 10.7 treys per game. Since then, the team has converted no better than 34.6 percent from behind the arc, and in the last two games has made 17.5 percent (7-40) of their long-range tries.

Josh Ajayi recorded his fourth double-double of the season Thursday with 18 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. He shot 6 for 10 from the floor and 2 for 3 from 3-point territory. His 18 points are two more than he had in the previous three games combined (16). Ajayi's 12 boards are the most by a Jaguar this season.

Rodrick Sikes scored 15 points Thursday, his lowest output since totaling 13 against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 16 — he had tallied 16 or more in each of his previous seven games.

Sikes extended his double-digit point streak to 18 games. He has scored at least 11 points in each game of the streak. He is one shy of Tim Williams' 19-game run in 2009-10.

In conference games, Sikes has the Sun Belt's highest scoring average at 20.8 ppg.

Appalachian State is third in the Sun Belt in scoring average (77.4 ppg) and leads the conference in 3s per game (9.6). However, in conference games, the Mountaineers are 10th in scoring (64.5 ppg) and have been held under 60 three times in the last four games.

Ronshad Shabazz is the league's fourth-leading scorer at 19.7 ppg. In three career games against South Alabama, he is averaging 11.7 ppg.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Appalachian State
On most impressive part of win Thursday: "I really admired how tough we were. We were down eight in the second half, we strung together a few stops and were able to score after those stops. I felt like we did a great job down the stretch of getting stops and rebounding the basketball. I was really pleased with that."

On improving 3-point shooting: "Our shot selection from the 3-point line has steadily decreased over the last few games. We've got really good shooters that are taking tougher-than-necessary shots right now. We're shooting it a little too quickly now. We have to move the ball, take better shots and our percentage will improve."

On Appalachian State: "They're a team that plays extremely hard, and they have some good wins at home in conference play. They're a team that will play a lot of guys and keep coming at you with their physicality and ability to get the ball off the offensive glass. We've got to continue to do a great job of defending the 3-point line. That's been a staple for us this year. We've got to be able to locate the right shooters, run them off the 3-point line and finish with a physical blockout."

On defending Ronshad Shabazz: "You've got to have great team awareness on him. He's an outstanding offensive scorer. He does a great job at scoring at all three levels. I think he does a tremendous job getting fouled and getting to the free-throw line. We have to do a great job of challenging his shots without fouling."

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).

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—USA—