Game 20 • South Alabama Jaguars (9-10, 2-4) at Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (11-7, 2-3)
January 24, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Cajundome (12,362) • Lafayette, La.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 9-10 (1st year)
Overall Record: 44-38 (3rd year)
Record vs. Louisiana: 0-2

Louisiana
Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at LA: 166-118 (8th year)
Overall Record: 391-249 (19th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama tied it up in the final seconds but lost in overtime to Georgia Southern 88-86. A Louisiana rally at ULM fell short 99-95.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars travel to ULM Saturday. The Ragin' Cajuns host Troy.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video); Dan McDonald (pxp), Eric Mouton (color)

RANKINGS (through Jan. 21)
USA: #297 NET, #237 Sagarin
LA: #179 NET, #152 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 27-26.

Current streak: Louisiana, won 4
USA's last win in series: 83-70 (2/27/16)
Last meeting: Louisiana 88, South Alabama 71 (2/24/18)
USA's last win at the Cajundome: 89-82 (1/17/15)
LA's last win at the Cajundome: 76-57 (1/25/18)
USA's record at the Cajundome: 11-14
USA's record on the road: 12-14
USA's road streak: Lost 3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 4

Notes: South Alabama had a four-game win streak in the series ended in 2013-14 with the largest loss ever to LA (102-74)… The two teams traded wins in the 2008-09 (LA) and 2009-10 (USA) seasons by the same 67-65 score… LA has four wins vs. USA (three regular season, one SBC tournament) that were vacated due to NCAA penalties… The Ragin' Cajuns won the 2008-09 contest in Lafayette on a half-court shot by Randell Daigle… South Alabama's 88-64 win in 2012-13 broke a string of seven games in the series decided by six points or less, including two in overtime… Neither team has dominated the other for an extended period—the longest win streak by either school is four.

OPENING TIP
Louisiana's four-game win streak in the series ties the longest by either team in 53 games.

The 53 games — 57 on-court meetings due to vacated contests — are the third-most in South Alabama history, trailing Western Kentucky (66) and Jacksonville (59).

South Alabama is 0-4 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.

A USA player has scored 20 points or more in 11 consecutive games and in all but two games this season.Trhae Mitchell has hit the 20-point mark five times in that span, followed by four by Josh Ajayi and three by Rodrick Sikes.

The Jaguars' 58.1 first-half shooting percentage Saturday was their highest of the season. The team finished at 51.4 for the game to fall to 5-2 on the year when shooting 50 percent or better.

South Alabama missed on all nine 3-point attempts after halftime vs. Georgia Southern and converted 21.1 percent from deep for the contest, its second-lowest of the season (Nov. 17 vs. Jacksonville). The team's 2-point percentage (.627) was its best since Dec. 19 vs. Alabama A&M (.692).

Saturday marked just the third time this season the team leading at halftime did not go on to win the game (16-3). USA is 8-2 this season when up at the break.

Ajayi became the 16th member of South Alabama's 1,000-point club Saturday with a season-high 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting. It was his second straight 20-point outing and he's averaging 25.0 points in his last two games.

Ajayi also recorded a double-double for the second game in a row and seventh time this season with 11 rebounds. He moved up to 17th in school history with 523 career rebounds. Ajayi has a team-best seven double-doubles this season, all coming in the Mitchell Center.

Ajayi's seven double-doubles are the most by a USA player since Georgi Boyanov had 10 in 2015-16. Ajayi is tied for ninth in school history with 16 career double-doubles.

Ajayi was joined by Mitchell in the double-double club Saturday, who had 22 points and 11 boards. It was Mitchell's fifth double-double of the season. It also marked the second time this season the pair have recorded a double-double in the same game; it had not been accomplished once by any two Jaguars since 2013-14.

In his last four games, Ajayi is shooting 70.5 percent from the floor. He leads the league in field-goal percentage overall (.574) — 39th in the country — and in conference games (.639).

Mitchell has alternated 22-point games in his last five outings.

In Sun Belt games only, Mitchell ranks second in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and blocks (2.2 bpg), and seventh in field-goal percentage (.494).

With two blocks Saturday, Mitchell moved into a tie for fifth in school history with John May (111). Mitchell is three rejections away from Brandon Davis in fourth. Mitchell's season blocks average of 2.3 per game is second in the Sun Belt and 23rd in Division I.

Herb McGee tied his career high Saturday with 18 points and John Pettway set a new personal best with 14 points. Pettway tied his career high with 6 rebounds.

PREVIEWING THURSDAY
Head coach Richie Riley on Louisiana
On trying to reverse a four-game skid: "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We have to find a way to bounce back and it's not going to be easy. Louisiana and ULM are two of the top teams in our league. We're at a point with our team where you don't know who exactly is going to be out there because we have some injuries – some of those will be a game time decision. We have to get used to playing with some different lineups. In our last game, we hadn't played with that lineup all year long. We had four guys play over 40 minutes because we only had seven active guys. We have to do a good job as a staff of preparing our team to play different ways and maximize the bodies we do have to be the best team we can be. "

On gaining anything from close losses: "Three of our last four games have been extremely tight. Three of those losses were decided by six points. The more times you're in those positions where it comes down to the last few possessions, the more comfortable you are when it happens later on. We have to use that experience to win some of those games. The big thing where we want to be as a program, is when we go into games, we expect to win, not hope to win. This year, with this group, a lot of times we hope to win. You have to put your program in a situation to be playing at a level where you expect to win every single game you play, especially in conference play."

On Louisiana: "JaKeenan Gant might be the best player in our league. D'Marcus Simonds and Tookie Brown are really good and ULM has some guys that really good too, but with the numbers that he's putting up, it's incredible. He's averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds in conference play. He had a 45-point game; he's doing things offensively that are unheard of. Obviously he's a huge part in what they do offensively. But they surround him with guys that have experience. Marcus Stroman is an SEC transfer that's a senior now. All of these guys experienced an unbelievable season last year; they expect to win. That makes them a tough team. Even with the loss of Malik Marquetti, they have enough guys that are ready to step up. They have a winning culture. "

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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