Game Notes

Game 30 • South Alabama Jaguars (14-15, 7-9) at Georgia Southern Eagles (18-11, 9-7)
March 1, 2018 • 6:30 p.m. CST • Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) • Statesboro, Ga.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 65-93 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Georgia Southern: 5-3

Georgia Southern
Mark Byington (UNC Wilmington, 1998)
Record at GS: 87-74 (5th year)
Overall Record: 94-75 (6th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama allowed a big second-half run in an 88-71 loss to Louisiana on Saturday. Georgia Southern won 81-77 at Texas State.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars finish the regular season Saturday afternoon at Georgia State. The Eagles finish up at home vs. Troy.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN3 (video)

RANKINGS (Through Feb. 26)
USA: #261 RPI, #226 Sagarin
GS: #152 RPI, #156 Sagarin

THE SERIES
South Alabama leads 11-4.

Current streak: South Alabama, 2 wins
Last meeting: South Alabama 69, Georgia Southern 67 (12/31/17)
GS's last win in series: 84-79 OT (1/9/17) in Statesboro
USA's last win in Hanner Fieldhouse: 64-58 (1/7/16)
GSU's last win in Hanner Fieldhouse: 84-79 OT (1/9/17)
USA's record in Hanner Fieldhouse: 4-2
USA's road streak: Lost 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 2

Notes: The two schools 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 has won five of the last six meetings against Georgia Southern. In GS's last three wins vs. USA, two of those have come in Statesboro, including last season's 84-79 overtime victory, that saw the Eagles rally from a four-point deficit in the last 48 seconds.

Seven of the last eight games in the series have been decided by single digits.

After winning 11 straight games when outshooting its opponent, South Alabama has now lost two. The Jags outshot ULM 38.3%-35.7% and Louisiana 43.1%-40.0%. The team is 12-3 on the year when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent.

In their last nine games, USA has lost three in a row, won three in a row, and is currently on a three-game losing streak.

The Jaguars recorded a positive assist/turnover ratio three times in a four game stretch at the beginning of the month and won two of those three games. Since then, they have not had a positive ratio in any of the last four games and have a 1-3 record in that span.

South Alabama's opponents have shot 53 more free throws than the Jags in the last three games. On Saturday, Louisiana held a 35-13 advantage in free throw attempts.

After holding Louisiana to 24.0 percent shooting from 3-point land, including 8.3 percent in the second half alone, South Alabama's 3-point defense has dropped to 29.6 percent, which ranks first in the league and fourth in the nation. USA is second in the Sun Belt in field-goal defense (40.5%) and third in scoring defense (68.2 ppg), which ranks 17th and 74th in the nation, respectively.

In the last six games, the Jaguars are holding the opposition to 25.2 percent shooting from 3-point land.

On the other end of the floor, the Jaguars tied their season high Saturday in 3-pointers with 12 in 29 attempts. In their last five games, the Jags are averaging 9.8 treys; on the season, the team is eighth in 3s with 8.0 per contest.

Rodrick Sikes had 14 points on Saturday in his first game as a reserve since Nov. 22 due to senior night. He had a pair of 3s to move him into a tie for eighth in school history with Demetric Bennett with 81 on the season, and jumped to 13th in single-season points with 538.

Sikes needs two treys to move into seventh, and four to tie for sixth. He is eight points shy of 12th and 13 from 11th.

Nick Davis set new career highs in both points (20) and 3-pointers (6) against Louisiana. He went 7 for 12 from the floor and 6 for 9 from long distance, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Georgia Southern's Tookie Brown is averaging 18.2 points in his career vs. South Alabama. He averaged 24.5 points in two games last season, but was held to a career-low 12 on Dec. 31.

Ike Smith averaged 19.3 points in his first three games against USA, but has scored just 13 points total in his last two games, including five in the last meeting.

PREVIEWING THURSDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on GS
On finishing the season on the road: "The biggest part of this trip is we understand that we have to be playing better basketball as we wind down the season. We have the opportunity to play two really good teams on this trip. They're both going to test us in different ways, so we have to prepare accordingly and be ready to compete."

On having close games with Georgia Southern: "I would anticipate a close game, where you'll have to execute down the stretch, both offensively and defensively. It will take great attention to detail to win on the road. We have to have the mindset that we've been there before and we've had a lot of close games this year, so we'll have to draw on those experiences."

On Georgia Southern: "Ike Smith healthy now, and he wasn't the last time we played. When you talk about Georgia Southern, you start with Tookie Brown. He's an all-league player and he continues to get better every time he plays. This late in the season, there aren't a lot of secrets. The team that can execute their system the best is the team that's going to win."

On slowing down their offense: "You have to go a great job of mixing up your ballscreen coverages. They do a great job of setting ballscreens with different guys, and we have to counter that by not being predictable in how we're going to guard. We did a really good job of keeping them off balance by mixing up our on-ball coverages."

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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