Game Notes

Game 8 • Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (3-3) at South Alabama Jaguars (4-3)
November 29, 2017 • 7:05 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 55-81 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. USM: 1-3

Southern Miss
Doc Sadler (Arkansas, 1982)
Record at USM: 23-66 (4th year)
Overall Record: 172-173 (12th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama got a late 3-pointer to defeat New Orleans 55-52 on Sunday. Southern Miss lost 77-63 to Northern Colorado Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars travel to former Sun Belt rival Florida International on Saturday. The Golden Eagles host Rust on Sunday.

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. 27)
USA: #212 RPI, #226 Sagarin
USM: #258 RPI, #283 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USM leads 25-16.

Current streak: USA, 1 win
Last meeting: South Alabama 78, Southern Miss 55 (11/30/16)
USA's last win: 76-73 OT (12/2/08)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 75-68 (12/5/07)
USM's last win at the Mitchell Center: 57-54 (12/14/15)
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 1-7
USA's record in Mobile: 8-12
USA's home streak: Lost 4
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 6 / 8

Notes: Southern Miss is 14-4 in the last 18 games… USA snapped a six-game losing streak in the series last year in Hattiesburg with a 78-55 victory, the Jaguars' largest since 2005 and scored the most points vs. USM since 2002… The Jags' six-game winning streak came from 1971-74… USA won three straight from 2005-08 after losing eight in a row from 1996-2004…USM broke the three-game skid in 2009 in Mobile… Southern Miss'  93-58 win in 2010-11 was the 12th-worst loss in South Alabama history… USA was averaging 56.3 ppg in USM's previous six-game win streak, scoring no more than 59 points.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is 3-1 this season when scoring 69 points or fewer in a game. In the previous four years combined, the team was 9-56 (.138) and had won no more than three games in any of those seasons.

The Jaguars are 4-0 this season when allowing 59 points or fewer in a game. In four wins the team is allowing 49.0 points per game, and in three losses, is allowing 79.0.

USA forced a season-high 22 turnovers Sunday against New Orleans, and is forcing 21.5 in its last two outings. The team was credited with eight steals in its last two games, one shy of its season high of nine set in the season opener at Texas Tech.

Southern Miss is 21st in the nation with just 10.8 turnovers per game, and 22nd with a 5.2 turnover margin. The Golden Eagles had eight in their last outing vs. Northern Colorado.

The Jaguars won for the first time this year Sunday when being outrebounded (38-28). They are 3-0 when winning the rebounding battle and 1-3 when losing it.

Rodrick Sikes had 15 points Sunday to lead the team for the third consecutive game. He went 4 for 9 from the floor, 3 for 6 from 3-point land and 4 for 5 from the free-throw line.

In his last two games, Sikes has hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left to send the Stetson game into overtime, then hit the game-winning trifecta with 18.5 seconds remaining vs. New Orleans.

Sikes has scored double-digit points in each of his last six games – the longest streak by anyone on the team – and is averaging 17.3 points over that span.

Senior Nick Davis, who played a career-high 30 minutes in his first-ever start Sunday, grabbed a team-high-tying seven rebounds, and set new personal bests with four assists and four steals. The four steals are the most by a USA player this season.

Davis shared team-high honors with Josh Ajayi, who recorded his fifth double-digit scoring performance in his last six games with 13 points. This comes on the heels of his 20-point, 11-rebound effort in his previous outing vs. Stetson.

Southern Miss' Tyree Griffin leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg) and assists (5.5 apg), and is second with 10 steals.

Cortez Edwards is second on the team with a 14.0 scoring average, but is averaging 18.7 points in his last three games.

PREVIEWING WEDNESDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Southern Miss
On preparing for Southern Miss: "I think we can try and gain some momentum from winning ugly, but we have to get back to practice and work on some fundamental things. That's been difficult in this stretch of games that we're in right now – we've had a game every two days. We have to keep fighting through it and fix some things on the fly. After these next two games, we'll have some time to get back to practice and readjust."

On what Rodrick Sikes brings to the offense: "He's an aggressive scorer – he's not just a shooter. His ability to get to the free-throw line is good and he's able to create his own shot because of how fast and athletic he is. It just adds a different dimension since he isn't just a spot-up, catch-and-shoot guy."

On Southern Miss: "They're a much better team than they were a year ago. Their point guard Tyree Griffin makes them go. He's a dynamic player and we'll have to do a good job on him because he's the key to their team. He starts everything, he runs the offense, he's able to score and set up other players. They're a much better team because of him."

On defending Griffin: "We have to have a great awareness on him, especially in transition and off of ball screens. At the same time, they have other good players that are able to contribute. It's not like if you shut down Griffin, you're going to win. It's going to give you a better chance, but they have other good players. We'll need a great effort defensively."

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—