Game Notes

Game 6 • Stetson Hatters (3-2) at South Alabama Jaguars (3-2)
November 22, 2017 • 7:05 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 54-80 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Stetson: 0-1

Stetson
Corey Williams (Oklahoma State, 2002)
Record at SU: 42-91 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama won the Springfield Bracket at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament by defeating Saint Peter's 54-49. Stetson defeated Ave Marie 87-53 on Monday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars continue their homestand Sunday against New Orleans. The Hatters travel to North Dakota State on Saturday.

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 Nov. 20)
USA: #151 RPI, #204 Sagarin
SU: #340 RPI, #308 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Stetson leads 2-1.

Current winning streak: Stetson, 2 wins
USA's last win in series: 74-61 (3/3/76)
Last meeting: Stetson 87, South Alabama 78 (12/10/16)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
USA's last win at home: N/A
SU's last win in Mobile: 66-65 (11/27/76)
USA's record at home: 0-1
USA's home streak: Lost 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 2

Notes: The two schools split the first two meetings in the 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons, with each team winning on the other's home floor… The Hatters won 87-78 last season in DeLand.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama has held opponents to fewer than 50 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

The Jaguars lead the Sun Belt in field-goal percentage defense (.369) and 3-point percentage defense (.254), and are second in scoring defense (60.0). The team is in the top 50 in the nation in all three categories.

Saint Peter's was held to 28.1 percent shooting Sunday, the lowest by a South Alabama opponent this season, and 22.5 percent from 3-point land.

USA's 54 points Sunday are their fewest in a win since March 2, 2013 at Troy.

South Alabama has committed more turnovers than their opponent four times in five games this season, and currently average a league-high 18.8 per game.

Stetson, on the other hand, is third in Division I in fewest turnovers per game (7.0) and assist/turnover ratio (2.57).

Saint Peter's outscored South Alabama 20-5 in points off turnovers. The 20 points are the second most allowed this season.

The Jaguars won the battle of the boards Sunday 47-31. The 47 rebounds are the most against a Division I opponent since Feb. 4, 2016, and the plus-16 rebounding margin ties the program's best vs. a DI school since Jan. 3, 2013.

South Alabama is 3-0 when leading at halftime and 0-2 when trailing.

Josh Ajayi's fourth rebound Wednesday will give him 200 for his career. He the program's active leader in that category.

Trhae Mitchell has tied his career high in rebounding three times this season, and leads the team with 6.6 per contest. He also leads the Sun Belt with 6.4 defensive rebounds per contest.

Mitchell has paced the team in rebounding four times in five games. He did so twice last season.

Mitchell has a team-best 15 assists in 2017-18, which ranks tied for ninth in the Sun Belt. His assist/turnover ratio of 3.0 is second in the league.

Stetson's leading scorer, Divine Myles at 15.3 ppg, scored a game-high 23 points against South Alabama in last year's meeting.

PREVIEWING WEDNESDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Stetson
On coming home with two wins over the weekend: "It's really nice to come back home after two wins because you're starting to build some confidence. When you have a young, inexperienced team, confidence is a huge factor in that. Two, you can see their body language from winning a trophy. That's going to give you confidence going into your next game, for sure."

On the team's recent defensive efforts: "We've bought in that your defense isn't allowed to have an off night. Sometimes you have bad shooting nights, or don't take care of the ball as well as you'd like, but defensively, it comes down to effort and executing the scouting report. We did a phenomenal job in those two areas on Saturday and Sunday."

On Stetson's offense: "This will be an extremely difficult test for us because they do such a great job in transition running to the 3-point line. If they don't have the 3-point shot, they're excellent at driving the ball into the paint and making the extra pass. It's going to put our defense on its heels at times, and we're going to have to be active and rotate really well."

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—