Game Notes

Game 29 • Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (24-4, 14-1) at South Alabama Jaguars (14-14, 7-8)
February 24, 2018 • 7:05 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 65-92 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. ULL: 4-5

Louisiana
Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at ULL: 152-108 (7th year)
Overall Record: 377-239 (18th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama fell in the final minutes to ULM 66-62. Louisiana held off a late rally by Troy to win 81-76.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars open their final road trip of the year Thursday at Georgia Southern. The Ragin' Cajuns 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 Feb. 22)
USA: #265 RPI, #223 Sagarin
ULL: #38 RPI, #73 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 27-25.

Current streak: Louisiana, won 3
USA's last win in series: 83-70 (2/27/16)
Last meeting: Louisiana 76, South Alabama 57 (1/25/18)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 83-70 (2/27/16)
ULL's last win at the Mitchell Center: 76-70 OT (1/30/11)
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 8-6
USA's record at home: 13-9
USA's home streak: Won 4
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 4

Notes: South Alabama had a four-game win streak in the series ended in 2013-14 with the largest loss ever to ULL (102-74)… The two teams traded wins in the 2008-09 (ULL) and 2009-10 (USA) seasons by the same 67-65 score… ULL has four wins vs. USA (three regular season, one SBC tournament) that were vacated due to NCAA penalties… The Ragin' Cajuns won the 2008-09 contest in Lafayette on a half-court shot by Randell Daigle… South Alabama's 88-64 win in 2012-13 broke a string of seven games in the series decided by six points or less, including two in overtime… Neither team has dominated the other for an extended period—the longest win streak by either school is four.

OPENING TIP
Louisiana has not won in Mobile since 2011. South Alabama has won the last four meetings in the Mitchell Center by an average of 12.3 points.

A win would give the Jaguars 12 home wins this season, which would be the most since 2007-08.

The Jags have won their home finale in each of the last six seasons.

On Thursday, USA suffered its first loss this season when holding a team to under 70 points, falling to 13-1. The team also had an 11-game win streak snapped when outshooting their opponent to drop to 12-2.

The Jaguars have shot 23 for 60 from the floor in each of the last two games.

South Alabama held UL Monroe to 27.6 percent from 3-point distance on eight 3s. The Warhawks entered the game as the league's top team in both 3-pointers per game (9.4) and 3-point percentage (27.6%).

The Jags maintained their spot at the top of the Sun Belt in 3-point defense at .298, which is sixth in the nation. The team is second in the SBC in field-goal defense (.405) and third in scoring defense (67.5 ppg). Those numbers rank 22nd and 58th in Division I, respectively.

Rodrick Sikes led the team in scoring Thursday with a game-high-tying 19 points on three 3-pointers. He currently has 79 triples, which is ninth-best in a single season at USA. He is two shy of Demetric Bennett's total of 81 in 2006-07.

Sikes has 524 points this season, which is 17th in South Alabama's single-season history. Matching his season average of 18 points on Saturday would move him up to 13th.

Sikes went 4 for 5 at the free-throw line vs. ULM to move to 12th with 129 conversions at the line.

Sikes is fifth in the league in scoring (18.7 ppg), second in 3s per game (2.8), and third in 3-point percentage (.382). In league games only, he is second in scoring average (20.6).

Trhae Mitchell pulled down 13 rebounds on Thursday — 11 on the defensive end — to set a new career high. The 13 boards are tied for the third most by a USA player this season. His previous career best was 10 against Trinity Baptist.

Louisiana leads the league in offense (84.7 ppg), scoring margin (+13.9), free-throw percentage (.763), field-goal percentage (.474), rebounding margin (+7.5), assists (17.9), steals (7.7), and assist/turnover ratio (1.3).

The first meeting between the two schools in Lafayette was just a six-point game with 12:52 left in the contest before the Ragin' Cajuns went on a 17-2 run to break the game open.

Bryce Washington, who is the only Sun Belt player averaging double-digit rebounds (10.6 rpg), had 16 — six on the offensive end — against South Alabama earlier this year in Lafayette. The six offensive boards are tied for the most by a USA opponent this season.

Malik Marquetti led all scorers in the first meeting with 21 points on five 3s. The five 3s are also tied for the most by a Jaguar opponent in 2017-18.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on ULL
On the loss to ULM on Thursday: "Defensively, after looking at the film, we played good enough to win. Our defense really gave us an opportunity so we have to clean up some offensive execution issues with our turnovers. We flat-out missed a couple of shots that we normally make. Ultimately you want to get the win, but we did some good things and we have to build on that for Saturday against Louisiana."

On senior day: "Senior day is obviously important to me because it recognizes someone who usually has been in your program for multiple years and has been through the practices, the conditioning and the hard work. It's a chance to honor them one last time in their home arena. It's very important that we play the right way and have the right mindset going into the game."

On Louisiana: "Louisiana is extremely talented. They can hurt you in a number of ways – in transition, in the halfcourt, on the perimeter or in the post. They really put your defense to the ultimate test because they can score in a variety of ways. We're going to have to be extremely locked in and ready to go from the jump."

On preparing for their offensive weapons: "I think you've got to stick with your system and stay true to who you are defensively, and not get too outside the box on a one-day prep. We had some success guarding them in Lafayette about a month ago. We'll make a few tweaks from that, but we've got to rely on our system that we've been working on all year to carry us."

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—