Exhibition • Tuskegee Golden Tigers at South Alabama Jaguars
October 27, 2018 • 4 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 0-0 (1st year)
Overall Record: 35-28 (3rd year)
Record vs. Tuskegee: 0-0

Tuskegee
Jerry Dunn (George Mason, 1981)
Record at Tuskegee: 44-67 (5th year)
Overall Record: 161-188 (12th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama ended the 2017-18 season with a 69-62 loss to Troy in the Sun Belt Tournament. Tuskegee concluded its year with a 73-62 SIAC Tournament loss to Claflin.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars will officially open the season Nov. 6 against Auburn. The Golden Tigers go to Florida A&M on Nov. 10.

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

RANKINGS (Through end of 2017-18 season)
USA: #271 RPI, #232 Sagarin
TU: N/A

THE SERIES
The two schools have never met in a regular season game.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama and Tuskegee last met in an exhibition contest before the 2010-11 season.

The Jaguars were 11-4 at home last season, their best win percentage in the Mitchell Center since 2012-13. The 11 wins tied the most by the program since 2007-08.

Last season, USA posted the third-best field-goal percentage defense (.407) and 3-point percentage defense (.305) in school history.

In the Sun Belt, South Alabama led the conference in 3-point defense and ranked third in field goal defense and fourth in scoring defense (69.3).

Nationally, the team finished sixth in 3-point defense and 22nd in field goal defense.

On the other end of the floor, the Jags attempted the most 3-pointers (779) in school history and made the third most (252).

Rodrick Sikes, who was named Second Team Preseason all-Sun Belt on Thursday, set a new school record last season with five 30-point performances. Three of those came against league competition.

Included in those five 30-point games was a career-high 38-point outing at ULM, the second-most by a Sun Belt student-athlete in 2017-18.

In league games only, Sikes placed second with 20.2 ppg.

Sikes' 597 points are tied for sixth in school history, and his 88 3-pointers and 153 made free throws are fifth. His scoring average of 18.7 is 19th.

Among all South Alabama juniors, Sikes ranked second in 3s, third in free throws made and tied for third in points.

Sikes earned Second Team all-Sun Belt honors at the end of the season.

Josh Ajayi also earned preseason all-conference honors after being voted to the third team.

Ajayi was the team's leading rebounder (6.7 rpg) a season ago and ranked ninth in the Sun Belt in league games only (7.1 rpg).

Ajayi recorded a team-best six double-doubles and grabbed 10 or more in a game seven times. He set a new career high with 14 at ULM then tied that a few weeks later at Appalachian State.

Trhae Mitchell led the team last year with 45 blocks, the third-highest total by a sophomore in school history. He was third in the league in blocks per game (1.4).

Tuskegee head coach Jerry Dunn spent eight seasons at Penn State where he led the Nittany Lions to a 117-121 overall record and four trips to the postseason.

The Golden Tigers lost their top two scorers from last year in James Eads and Travis Flagg. The pair combined for 29.7 ppg.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Richie Riley on Tuskegee
On Saturday's exhibition: "It's exciting. It's our first game as a coaching staff. It's exciting the first time you get to play at home in front of your fans. It's exciting for our guys because it's a new beginning for them. They've put in a lot of time, effort and energy to get to this moment, to play someone else on our home court. It's the first of many non-conference home games. First impressions are very important. We want to come out and be the team that we've worked on being every day. That's a hungry group of guys that are going to play the right way and play with great energy."

On what will make Saturday a success: "Our execution and our attention to detail defensively are two things I want to see. I want to see us value the ball. It's an area of improvement we've tried to really emphasize in the preseason. We're always watching the assist/turnover ratio. I want to see a group that's passionate about what they're doing, playing together and playing the game the right way, and playing with a ton of energy. I think that's what people will see when they come out and watch us on Saturday."

On Tuskegee: "They're a very well-coached team. Coach (Jerry) Dunn has been around the block. He was the head coach at Penn State, which is in the Big 10 and a Power 5 school. He's worked for John Beilein, who is one of the best coaches in the country and been to two national championship games. He's an excellent basketball coach. They do a great job of being structured offensively – it's a unique style of play with a lot of the two-guard concepts that you see in the Princeton offense. Their guys are well-schooled – they know how to play the game. Defensively, they're sound. It's going to be a really good test for us – we're looking forward to it."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
 
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