Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – Junior Rodrick Sikes scored a game-high 32 points and the University of South Alabama men's basketball team held Arkansas State to 35 percent shooting in an 87-67 win over Arkansas State Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

Sikes hit the 30-point mark for the fifth time this season to break the previous record held by four other players. He shot 12 for 22 from the floor and 5 for 12 from 3-point land, and recorded 21 points in the first half alone.

USA (13-12, 6-6 SBC) ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 39-22 into the intermission, then outscored A-State (9-17, 4-9 SBC) 18-4 over a 2:22 span to go up 67-36 at the midway point of the second half.

Sophomore Josh Ajayi made 9 of his 11 attempts from the floor for 21 points, and sophomore Trhae Mitchell had 13 points, four assists and three blocks.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama never trailed in the contest, taking the lead for good just 16 seconds in on a Sikes trey
- Sikes scored nine of the team's first 11 points of the game to help the Jags take an 11-2 lead early
- Ajayi hit back-to-back layups to start a run of nine unanswered points, and Mitchell finished it with a three-point play for a 26-point lead
- The Red Wolves' Rashad Lindsey broke up the run with a jumper, and converted twice at the free-throw line after a triple from Mitchell, but Sikes nailed a pair of 3s just 17 seconds apart to put the Jaguars up 67-36
- Arkansas State made nine of its last 10 shots from the floor, including both 3-point attempts, but got no closer than 20 points
- A-State had four players score double-digits: Tamas Bruce (13), Lindsey (12), Connor Kern (11) and Grantham Gilliard (10)

NOTES
- Senior Nick Davis tied his career high with 11 rebounds
- South Alabama tied its season high with 22 assists
- The Jaguars have won back-to-back Sun Belt games by 37 points, the largest margin over a two-game span since 2007-08
- USA improved to 11-2 at home this year, tying the program's highest win total in the last 10 seasons
- The Jags' 31-point lead at the 10-minute mark is their highest against a Division I school since 2011-12
- Sikes and Ajayi have scored at least 20 points in the same game three times this season
- South Alabama is 2-3 when Sikes scores 30 or more
- The Jaguars have recorded a positive assist/turnover ratio seven times in 2017-18, and three of those have come in the last four outings
- South Alabama has won consecutive games against Arkansas State for the first time since January 2009
- The Jags have shot 50 percent or better in a half three times in the last two games
- USA won the rebounding battle 41-28 to improve to 10-1 this season when outrebounding its opponent
- In Mitchell's last five games, he is averaging 14.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, is shooting 70.0 percent from the field, and has a 12-5 assist/turnover ratio
- Ajayi is averaging 16.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in his last seven outings
- Senior Dederick Lee came off the bench to dish out a game-high six assists
- South Alabama's 87 points are tied for the most against a Division I opponent in regulation since 2014-15

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matthew Graves
Opening statement: "I was really pleased that we were able to come back after three straight losses to protect our home court. We played well in these two wins. We got back to defending. The last 10 minutes was a hodge-podge of a bunch of different things. That first half, allowing 22 points and the way we flew around and defended and contested shots, I was really proud of our guys' effort in the first half."

On key to defensive effort: "Our guys really did a great job with the scout. I've got a great assistant coaching staff. They do a wonderful job, and today, coach (Brock) Morris had the guys ready. We were rotating and flying around defensively. They do a great job off their ball screen stuff. We were able to handle a lot of their different looks out of that. Once we did that, we were able to get in transition and, seeing 22 assists on 32 field goals and several guys get multiple assists, that's tremendous. Our guys were sharing the basketball, and it's really fun to watch when you've got a bunch of different guys having assists and sharing the ball."

On Sikes' performance: "It was nice to see him get going again. He had struggled recently, and he's kept with it. We have the utmost confidence in Rodrick. When you give him the looks he was getting tonight, he's going to get in a really good rhythm. Our guys did a great job of finding him, and also to Rodrick's credit tonight, he moved a lot better, cutting through the zone. He sprinted in transition a couple times and got some really good looks."

On the post players: "We challenged those guys to be big and play strong in there. Josh really struggled in the first half, and we challenged him to finish around the rim. He did a tremendous job. Nick Davis can be our best rebounder when he's locked in, and today, he really did a great job staying locked in and rebounding the ball above the rim."

UP NEXT
South Alabama goes back out on the road, traveling to Appalachian State on Thursday night at 6:30 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—