MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team jumped out to a 25-point lead in the first nine minutes and survived a late Southern Miss charge to win 69-58 Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars (5-3) scored 23 of the game's first 25 points and took a 29-4 lead just nine minutes into the game after shooting 10 for 14 from the floor and 6 for 8 from 3-point land.

Southern Miss (3-4) used an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 13 with 12:45 left, then scored 10 unanswered points in the final 2:04 to get within eight but could get no closer.

USA junior Rodrick Sikes scored a game-high 20 points, and sophomore Herb McGee poured in a career-high 19 on four 3-pointers. Dominic Magee had 16 off the bench for USM.

GAME FACTS
- In the first nine minutes, South Alabama converted 71.4 percent of its shots while holding Southern Miss to 18.2 percent overall, including misses on all five 3-point attempts
- Sikes had 11 of those first 29 points, going 2 for 3 from distance; McGee converted all three long-range attempts for nine points during that span
- Four different players contributed in the Jaguars' 16 consecutive points that ended with a 23-2 lead
- After taking a 21-point lead into the break and scoring the first two points of the second half, the Jags went cold, making just one field goal in an almost nine-minute stretch, allowing the Golden Eagles to get within 13 after a 13-3 run
- South Alabama kept Southern Miss at bay, opening up an 18-point advantage with 2:17 after a Sikes trey, but USM went for 10 unanswered, taking advantage of a pair of USA turnovers to close to 66-58 with 39 seconds remaining
- McGee hit a pair of free throws on the other end four seconds later to end the rally and the Golden Eagles missed their last four attempts from the floor
- Sophomore Josh Ajayi scored 13 points for the Jags, and senior Nick Davis grabbed a career high 11 rebounds

NOTES
- After dropping six in a row to Southern Miss, South Alabama has won the last two meetings but still trails in the series 25-17
- Freshman Joe Thompson set new career highs in minutes (14), points (4) and rebounds (9)
- Davis also set a new career high with five blocks; the last Jaguar to reject five shots was Don MuepoKelly at ULM on Feb. 11
- South Alabama's 40 points and 19 points allowed are both season bests for the first half
- The team's 21-point lead at halftime ties the largest under head coach Matthew Graves against a Division I opponent, and is the largest since the 2011-12 season (25 vs. Alcorn State)
- USA's 15 assists on 23 field goals sets a new season high in assist/field goal ratio (.652)
- The Jags finished with just five offensive rebounds – tying their season low – and recorded zero in the second half
- South Alabama improves to 4-1 when scoring 69 points or fewer – the four wins are the most since 2012-13
- The Jaguars are also 5-0 when allowing 59 or fewer
- Southern Miss' 25.9 field-goal percentage in the first half is the lowest by a Jaguar opponent this season
- After averaging 17.3 turnovers in their last three outings, the Jags tied their season low with 11, and recorded a positive assist/turnover ratio for the second time in 2017-18
- USA improved to 4-0 this season when winning the rebounding battle (37-33)
- Sikes has led the team in scoring in each of the last four games and has a seven-game double-digit scoring streak
- Davis has set a new career high in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in his last two games, both starts

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matthew Graves
Opening statement: "I'm really pleased with how we started the game. I thought we were locked in defensively. The guys did a great job, not only knowing their personnel, but their actions and the scouting. The lineup that we had in really matched, and because of that we were able to switch a lot of one through four screens. With Nick Davis and Trhae Mitchell locked in defensively, they are really tough to drive because of their ability to move and their length. Nick Davis ended up with five blocked shots and Trhae had two blocked shots. Those guys are really hard to drive. Offensively, we showed signs of being a patient basketball team that took good shots. We had 11 turnovers, so we made progress in that area. In the second half, we knew they were going to make a run and makes some adjustments. Coach (Doc) Sadler is an amazing coach. They started throwing the ball inside, and that bothered us. We've got to learn to adjust. We went to that zone at the end to give them a different look to get the job done. I'm really proud of the effort tonight."

On figuring things out: "We showed signs of it. We talk about wasted possessions, and we did not have as many wasted possessions tonight offensively. My dream is to, in a typical 70 to 75 possession game, to have 75 perfect possessions. I've never seen it done. The more we can strive to do that, we're going to be tough to beat because at the end of the day, we've shown through eight games, the ability to sit down and guard and rebound the ball, and we've got to continue to improve in that area. But offensively, staying out of those long scoring droughts is going to be a key to our success moving forward."

On Sikes: "Rodrick has been doing a great job. What I think people underestimate about Rodrick is that he is just not a shooter. He is a scorer because he gets to the free-throw line, he gets fouled, and he's really fast. When you have that combination and we're able to spread the floor like we can, it really gives him a lot of freedom. Tonight he did a great job of back cutting and getting to the rim and finishing at the rim. I was really pleased with him. We had our little moment at the end when he turned it over a couple times. And what I like about him is that he didn't back down. His competitiveness is that we need more of that on our team. And I really like that about Rodrick."

On Nick Davis and Joe Thompson's contributions: "I thought Nick, in his starting role, getting 11 rebounds and five blocks was fabulous. But Joe Thompson was ready for his opportunity. He hadn't played a lot of minutes, and to get nine rebounds in 14 minutes is absolutely remarkable. We talked about that, and that is one of our weaknesses: rebounding the basketball consistently. That could be his niche, that could be how he stays on the court, and how he helps this team win. As he gets comfortable with our defensive system, it's going to make him that much better."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars hit the road Saturday for a clash at former Sun Belt Conference rival Florida International. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. CST.

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—