Game 8 • Florida A&M Rattlers (2-5) at South Alabama Jaguars (3-4)
December 1, 2018 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 3-4 (1st year)
Overall Record: 38-32 (3rd year)
Record vs. Florida A&M: 0-0

Florida A&M
Robert McCullum (Birmingham Southern, 1976)
Record at FAMU: 11-30 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 95-151 (9th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama rallied from an early deficit but fell 71-67 at Southern Miss on Wednesday. Florida A&M lost 81-62 at North Florida.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars go back out on the road with a game Wednesday at New Orleans. The Rattlers go to DePaul on Monday.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; Steve Goldberg (pxp)
On the web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video); J.T. Crabtree (pxp), Pat Greenwood (color)

RANKINGS (through Nov. 29)
USA: #300 NET, #243 Sagarin
FAMU: #252 NET, #319 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 3-0.

Current streak: USA, 3 wins
Last meeting: South Alabama 93, Florida A&M 64 (11/22/08)
FAMU's last win: N/A
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
USA's last win in Mobile: 81-53 (12/7/96) at Jag Gym
FAMU's last win in Mobile: N/A
USA's record in Mobile: 2-0
USA's home streak: Won 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 3 / 0

Notes: The two schools haven't met since November 2008, and haven't played in Mobile since December 1996… The Jaguars have scored at least 81 points in each of their three victories.

OPENING TIP
Wednesday's game at Southern Miss was South Alabama's first decided by single digits this season.

The Jaguars are 3-0 this season when leading at halftime and outshooting their opponent, and 0-4 when trailing at the break and being outshot by their opponent.

Wednesday's first-half shooting percentage of 54.5 (12-22) was a new season high, as was the team's first-half (63.6%, 7-11) and overall 3-point percentage (50.0, 14-28). USA was converting 35.2 percent from the field in the first half against Division I opponents prior to the USM game.

The Jags' 14 3-pointers are a new season best, tied for the sixth-most in school history, and the most in regulation since also hitting 14 at ULM on Feb. 11, 2012.

Kory Holden accounted for eight of those 3-pointers — a new career high — in just 10 attempts in his first official game in a Jaguar uniform. The eight 3s are tied for third in school history and one shy of the record set twice by Freddie Goldstein in 2011-12. The .800 3-point percentage is also tied for fifth in school history for a single game (min. 6 made).

Trhae Mitchell continued his torrid pace blocking shots by tying his career high with four at Southern Miss. He currently leads the Sun Belt with 2.4 per game and has multiple blocks in five of his seven games this season.

Mitchell also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds Wednesday. He is second on the team with 4.6 per outing.

Josh Ajayi scored his 800th career point at USM and finished with 11 on the night. He is the team's active leader with 802; Rodrick Sikes isn't far behind with 710 in less than two seasons.

Sikes recorded 10 of his 14 points Wednesday in the second half and went 3 for 7 from 3-point land. He is 12th in South Alabama's career history with 112 treys and 13th in 3-point attempts with 311. Sikes needs four triples to tie Revonte Dantzler (1999-01) and five to tie Demetrice Williams (1999-03) for 10th.

Sikes ranks second in the Sun Belt in 3s per game (3.4) and fourth in 3-point percentage (.329).

Herb McGee paced the Jags with four assists at Southern Miss and has led the team in that category five times in seven games this season, including a career-high 11 vs. Southeast Missouri.

Florida A&M's Justin Ravenel has led the team in scoring five times in the last six games, and is the only Rattler to average double digits (16.4 ppg). He has hit double-figures in each of his last six games, has reached the 20-point plateau twice and is shooting 51.1 percent (24-47) from 3-point land.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Richie Riley on Florida A&M
On returning home: "We're looking forward to getting back on our home court, especially after the last two road games. We showed signs of improvement in certain moments of both of those games, but we haven't collectively put together a 40-minute performance; Southeast Missouri was probably the closest to that and that was the last time we were here. Hopefully we'll be able to carry over some momentum from our last home game and it'll be Kory Holden's second game. Even though it's a short prep, I think our guys are ready to go out there and snap this two-game losing streak."

On how Holden changes the offense: "He's more of a pace-and-tempo guard, which is how we play. He changes the pace in transition. Obviously he's a capable shot maker and he can create shots for other guys. I talked about it on Wednesday, but eight turnovers is not who he is. He was put in a tough situation to play through fatigue and it got the best of him. I felt like we needed him out there to help us win. He makes us a little faster, adds some depth and helps some of our other guys out because he'll be able to get in the paint and create some easy opportunities for them too."

On Florida A&M: "They're a hard-playing team with a veteran coach. They're going to be very disciplined offensively with what they do; they take good shots. Defensively, they're a team that plays hard and puts some pressure on the ball. They'll deny some entries and make it tough for you to move the ball at times. But the biggest thing they do is play extremely hard and compete at a high level. We have to match that level and go above and beyond if we want to win the game. That's something that we've been inconsistent with; our willingness to compete has not been consistent and it will have to be when we play them. Ravenel is their best player and leading scorer. He's shooting an unbelievable percentage both from '2' and '3' and can score at all three levels. He's a guy we're really focused on; trying to limit his production is key, while not letting any of their other guys get going as well."

On stopping Ravenel: "You have to keep him off balance and guard him in late shot-clock situations. You have to guard their actions. They consistently run actions; it's not a team that spaces you out and tries to drive you. They try to create advantages within their screening actions, so we have to take him away in those and make catches tough. He's a guy they lean on in late shot-clock situations to create a shot. He's pretty dynamic in getting his shot off the bounce and making tough ones. He's going to make some tough ones, but we have to force him to take a lot of tough ones and find a way to make him miss."

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).

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