Notes

Game 32 • #10 South Alabama Jaguars (14-17, 7-11) vs. #7 Troy Trojans (15-16, 9-9)
March 7, 2018 • 5 p.m. • Lakefront Arena (8,933) • New Orleans, La. • Sun Belt Tournament

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 65-95 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Troy: 6-4
Record in SBC Tournament: 2-3

Troy
Phil Cunningham (Campbellsville, 1990)
Record at Troy: 78-113 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama dropped a 90-75 decision at Georgia State on Saturday. Troy fell 89-83 at Georgia Southern.

NEXT GAME
The winner will play No. 2 seed Georgia State on Friday at 5 p.m.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN3 (video)

RANKINGS (Through March 4)
USA: #262 RPI, #231 Sagarin
Troy: #204 RPI, #189 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 21-10.

Current winning streak: Troy, 2 wins
USA's last win in series: 76-71 (2/4/17)
Last meeting: Troy 80, South Alabama 63 (2/3/18)
USA's last win at a neutral site: 87-81 (3/3/12) in Hot Springs, Ark.
USA's record at a neutral site: 2-1
USA's neutral streak: Won 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 2

Notes: South Alabama has won 11 of the last 15 meetings... Despite the in-state rivals being separated by about 170 miles, the two schools have met just 31 times; all but two of the meetings came after Troy joined the Sun Belt in 2005... South Alabama won the two pre-Sun Belt clashes in 1993 and 1995... The Jaguars won the first five games in the series and seven of the first eight... A buzzer-beating shot gave USA a 69-67 victory in Mobile on Jan. 16, 2010... Freddie Goldstein set a new school record with nine 3-pointers in the 2011- 12 season at Troy... USA leads the series 2-1 in games played at the Sun Belt Tournament, including an 87-81 victory in 2011-12 in the first round... Troy snapped a five-game skid in 2013-14 in Troy and a four-game slide in 2015-16 in Mobile.

OPENING TIP
The last time Troy swept the regular-season series against South Alabama in 2008-09, the Jaguars defeated the Trojans in the Sun Belt Tournament.

The Jags last played a team in the tournament that swept the regular-season series in 2014-15 against ULM. The Warhawks won the tournament matchup 77-59.

South Alabama is 3-13 this year away from home, but 2-0 in games played at a neutral site.

The Jaguars have followed a season-long win streak (3) with a season-long losing streak (5).

USA is 1-16 this season when allowing 70 points or more, and is allowing 86.3 points in its last three games. In the five games prior to that, the Jags gave up 65.4 points per contest, with a high of 72 in a loss at Coastal Carolina.

Despite the recent defensive slump, South Alabama still leads the conference in 3-point percentage (.305), and is third in field-goal percentage defense (.408), and tied for fourth in scoring defense (69.3 ppg). Nationally, the team is eighth in 3-point defense and 22nd in field-goal defense.

In Rodrick Sikes' last seven games, he is averaging 21.6 points and 3.1 treys per game, and has scored at least 20 points four times over that stretch. He scored a team-high 18 points at Georgia State.

Sikes, who was named second team all-conference on Monday, has 579 points on the year, eighth most in school history. He is three points from a tie for seventh and 18 from sixth.

Sikes' next 3-pointer will tie Ken Williams for fifth on the school's single-season list with 87, and he needs three to tie for fourth.

Sikes is fifth in school history in both points and free throws by a junior, and second in 3-pointers.

Sikes is fifth in the league in scoring (18.7 ppg), and second in scoring in league games only (20.2). Three of his five school-record 30-point games this season came against Sun Belt competition.

Dederick Lee recorded his second double-digit point game of the year on Saturday with 12 on four 3-pointers. He has hit multiple 3s in three of his last four games after making three total in his previous five games.

Trhae Mitchell has five blocks in his last two games, to give him a team-high 44 on the season. His total is third best by a junior in USA history, and his 1.4 per-game average is third in the Sun Belt.

After scoring 11 points vs. Georgia State, Herb McGee is now averaging 11.0 points and 2.4 treys in his last five games. He has made two 3s in each of his last four games.

Troy's Alex Hicks (22.0 ppg), Wesley Person (15.5) and Jordon Varnado (14.5) all averaged over 14 points per game against the Jaguars this season. Hicks had 30 points — tied for the most by a USA opponent this season — and 16 rebounds in Mobile.

Varnado scored 17 points vs. USA in Troy; his previous high against the Jags was 12.

Person averaged 20.5 points in his first four games against South Alabama, but is averaging just 13.8 in the four games since.

PREVIEWING WEDNESDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Troy
On starting the Sun Belt Tournament: "It's a new opportunity and a new season; everybody is at 0-0 and we understand we have to play well in order to win. We're in a situation where we have to win four games in a five-day period if we want to cut down the nets."

On why Troy is a tough matchup: "They have the ability to score with two different post players and they have an outstanding perimeter threat in (Wesley) Person. They also have a lot of experience. They certainly have confidence from winning the conference tournament last year, so all of things play into giving them the advantage at this point."

On improvements to make from first two games: "I think we have to do a much better job of defending in the low post. We can't allow them to shoot as high a percentage as they did around the rim – that includes drives to the basket as well. We have to do a good job of being physical without fouling because they shoot it really well at the free-throw line."

On how to get Sikes to be a more consistent scorer in games: "We've got to do a better job of getting him in and out of the game. At times, there are stretches where he's tired and we need to give him a break. He's got to do a better job of moving without the basketball because teams will load up on him. We also can screen a little better for him. There are a number of things that we can do to help him"

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 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
 
—USA—