MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama junior Josh Ajayi scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and junior Trhae Mitchell was an assist shy of a triple-double as the Jaguars came back from a slow start to defeat Alabama A&M 79-67 Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.

Ajayi went 7 for 7 from the floor after halftime, and Mitchell posted 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, in addition to four blocks and steals apiece.

AAMU (0-10) jumped out to a 19-12 lead early and used an 8-0 run to start the second half to take a one-point lead. USA (6-5) answered with a 22-7 burst to regain control, but the Bulldogs rallied again to trail by just three with 3:42 left. The Jags scored the game's final nine points – four from Ajayi – for the final margin.

GAME FACTS
- The Bulldogs made 8 of their first 14 shots from the floor in taking a seven-point lead at the midway point of the first half, while forcing the Jaguars into 4-for-13 shooting and five turnovers
- South Alabama responded with a 21-7 run, capped off by a '3' from senior Rodrick Sikes to go up 33-26
- AAMU forced four USA turnovers in the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half and reeled off eight straight points for a 38-37 advantage
- Ajayi scored the next five points to retake the lead and spark a 22-7 scoring outburst for a 59-45 lead with 11:15 to play
- Brandon Miller (4 points) and Arthur Johnson (5) almost single-handedly led an 11-3 AAMU run to trim the deficit down to 62-56
- Johnson and Miller teamed up again for seven unanswered points, including back-to-back 3-pointers with 4:11 to go to cut the margin to three
- Following a Jalen Reeder layup that made it a 70-67 game with 3:42 left, Ajayi responded with a layup of his own, the first of nine straight USA points to close out the contest
- Graduate Kory Holden tallied 16 points and five assists, and Sikes added 11 points
- Reeder, Miller and Johnson all had 13 points for the Bulldogs

NOTES
- South Alabama leads the series 4-0; all four meetings have come since 1998 and been decided by double-digits
- The Jaguars' 56.6 shooting percentage tonight is their highest against a Division I opponent this season, and the 64.0 conversion rate in the second half is the best against any opponent in 2018-19
- USA is shooting 55.0 percent from the floor in its last two games combined, and the last time the team shot better than 53 percent in two straight games was in January 2015
- The team's 38.9 free-throw percentage (7-18) was its lowest since going 8 for 21 (38.1%) against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 22, 2007
- Mitchell posted his second career double-double tonight, tied his career high in rebounds and blocks, and set a new personal best in steals
- South Alabama's 25 assists are its most since recording 26 against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 14, 2009, and the team's assist/field goal ratio of .833 (25/30) is its highest since 21 assists on 25 field goals (.840) vs. Western Kentucky on Dec. 18, 2008
- The Jaguars recorded double-digit 3-pointers (12) for the fifth time this season and second in a row
- USA won the battle of the boards 34-28
- Alabama A&M's 18 turnovers tie the most by a South Alabama opponent this year, and USA's 10 steals are a new season best
- Sophomore John Pettway set a new career high with six assists against just one turnover

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "It was obviously not our best effort today, but sometimes that happens when you take 11 days off and you're drastically shorthanded. They three-quarter-court pressed us and zoned us the whole game, and that bothered us. Not having Herb McGee really hurt us. We lost our primary guy that does most of our ball-handling for at least 25 to 30 minutes a night. His thumb was bothering him and he just couldn't go. At the end of the day, we're 6-5. I gripe a lot and I griped a lot at our guys during the game, but we chase perfection. That's who we want to be; we want to be as close to perfect as we can be and we're not nearly there yet. We hope to chase that as a program as we go forward. Our guys are learning to get better. They're learning to show up every night. They're learning what goes into winning. It showed down the stretch. We had guys make big-time winning plays. I'm proud of a lot of our guys. They say a win is a win and I feel like that tonight. I usually talk about bad wins, but we found a way to survive when we were shorthanded tonight and I'm proud of our guys."

On being able to get a win when facing multiple challenges: "It shows we're making strides. I think a month ago we wouldn't have won that game, as crazy as it sounds. I know it's a game that we're supposed to win 100 out of 100 times. But a month ago, where we were mentally when they cut it to three, I don't know that we would have found enough to finish the game. They jumped us 19 to 12, and we saw that earlier in the year in a game where we got beaten in a game that on paper we shouldn't have lost. We kind of folded when we got jumped. Our guys responded better. They're getting mentally tougher. Eleven days of practice helped us. It didn't show tonight because we didn't play to the best of our ability, but it's helping us to get mentally stronger. Trhae Mitchell is playing the best basketball of his career. I've known Trhae since he was a sophomore in high school. I recruited some of his teammates when I was at Clemson. He's playing the best basketball of his career and he's growing into his role. He's being forced to do more than he's ever had to do in his career, and he's growing into that and figuring it out. I'm just really proud of him. Other guys stood out tonight. We don't win that game without Jordan Andrews and John Pettway; there's no way. They're not going to stick out as much as Josh Ajayi, who was great. He had 20 points. Kory Holden had 16 points and five assists. Those are the guys who are really going to stick out, and they should because they played well. John Pettway and Jordan Andrews were huge. They made some hustle plays. Jordan made some key shots. Pettway had some big-time finishes, six assists, and one turnover. We don't win that game without those guys. We do lineups by committee. Kevin Morris last game against Tulane had 10 points and played great. Tonight he didn't get to play as much. Jordan didn't play much against Tulane, but tonight he came in and got nine points and played a huge role in our win. We need all nine or 10 every single game."

On Mitchell's performance: "Trhae Mitchell was tremendous. It was one of the best performances I've seen. It won't stick out because he had 11 points. Eleven points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, four blocks, four steals—it's incredible how he impacted the game on both ends of the court."

On Ajayi's performance: "He was huge. We talked a lot about him finishing plays. He's shooting a lower percentage right now than he ever has in his career. We talked about it and he came out and went 9-for-10; the only shot he missed was a right-corner '3.' He's taking that next step. He becomes disinterested. That's my main thing with him and I tell him that all the time: 'You can control the game.' It's all about how interested he is and how his motor wants to go. He's a really, really good player. When he's locked in and wants to play, he's really good. He kind of put us on his back down the stretch. We kept trying to attack the middle of the zone and he got in there and finished some plays off. He's an all-league caliber guy and I tell him every day to get the most out of this. He's starting to do that. He's starting to string together better practices and I think we'll see it in live game action too."

UP NEXT
South Alabama has a quick turnaround, hosting Mobile tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

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