Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore Trhae Mitchell scored a career-high 19 points to guide the men's basketball team to a 73-56 victory over Little Rock Thursday evening at the Mitchell Center.

The Jags went on a 12-2 run to open the second half, then outscored the Trojans 12-3 later in the period to go up 19 with 6:10 on the clock. USA shot 51.7 percent in the second half – outscoring LR 39-26 – and 50.9 percent for the game

Mitchell shot 8 for 12 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Josh Ajayi had 16 points and seven boards, and sophomore Herb McGee added 10 points.

Cameron Corcoran was the only Trojan in double-digit points with 12 off the bench.

GAME FACTS
- Little Rock scored 12 unanswered points early in the first half to go up 18-9, but South Alabama answered with nine straight of its own, and neither team led by more than three until freshman John Pettway hit a '3' at the buzzer to send the Jags into the locker room with a 34-30 lead
- Mitchell nailed a triple to start the second half – the first of eight straight Jaguar points – then converted on a layup at the 16:22 mark to cap off the 12-2 scoring rally and take a 42-30 lead
- Little Rock trimmed the lead to eight on a 3-pointer from Anthony Black, but McGee answered with a trey on the Jags' next trip down the floor
- After a jumper from Corcoran pulled the Trojans within 56-46 at the midway point of the second half, the Jaguars scored 12 of the next 15 points, getting five from Mitchell and four from freshman Joe Thompson

NOTES
- Tonight was South Alabama's second-biggest win over a conference school this season (22 vs Georgia State)
- USA shot 50 percent or better from the floor in each half for the first time in 2017-18
- The Jaguars won the rebounding battle 35-27; the team has won the last five games when outrebounding its opponent
- Mitchell is averaging 15.3 points and shooting 70.6 percent from the floor in his last four games, and has set a new career-high in points three times over that stretch
- Pettway scored all of his career-high eight points in the first half, and dished out four assists with just one turnover
- Ajayi has hit double-digit points five times in his last six games, and is averaging 15.7 ppg in that span
- The 56 points allowed are the fewest by a Division I opponent since Eastern Illinois totaled 52 on Dec. 16
- South Alabama snapped a three-game losing streak overall, and a four-game skid to Little Rock; the streak by LR was its longest of the series between the two schools
- Sophomore Nick Davis pulled down a game-high nine rebounds
- The Jags improved to 10-2 at home this season; the 10 home wins tie the most by the program since 2008-09
- Ajayi scored six of his 16 points at the free-throw line, and is shooting 85.0 percent from the stripe in his last seven outings

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Matthew Graves
Opening statement: "I was really pleased with our overall effort. The one thing we talked about coming into this game was playing with energy and effort and enthusiasm, controlling our body language, and then being great teammates. Those things are the controllables, and what we can do to be a really good team is really focus on those things. The last three games in our losing streak, we kind of got away from that a little bit. Tonight, it was good to see guys smile and play hard for each other. I was really pleased with the overall outcome."

On the start to the second half: "We've had starts, coming out of the second half where we start really slow, and we wanted to pick up the tempo, get after it and extend the floor with the press a little bit, and get some more easy baskets. We did a good job of forcing them to play faster than they wanted to, and that allowed us to get some transition looks. Our bigs did a great job of running the floor for us."

On getting a big win: "It's huge. Guys like John Pettway and Joe Thompson off the bench were really huge for us. When those guys come in off the bench, that gives our other guys confidence. Those guys played really well for us. Certainly, we had some starters do some really nice things. Trhae Mitchell is starting to get into a really good rhythm. We were able to get Josh the ball in the post, which is a great thing. Tonight, when they were face-guarding, double teaming Rodrick (Sikes), it opens up the floor for everybody else, and sometimes, your job is to stand there and watch everybody else drive the ball, get the ball in the paint and space the floor that way. I know Rodrick was frustrated with it at times, but he handled it well, and we're looking forward to a great team effort on Saturday."

On the defensive effort: "We did a good job of flying around, being aggressive. Coach Archey put us through their scout stuff. I thought we executed that well. Bill Self had a quote earlier this week, talking about not coaching energy and effort and being able to coach execution, and tonight, we were able to coach the execution part. I was really proud of our guys in that area."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will take on Arkansas State Saturday afternoon at 3:05 p.m.

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—