LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana made back-to-back 3-pointers in the last 2 ½ minutes to break a 77-77 tie and went on defeat the University of South Alabama men's basketball team 88-84 Thursday night at the Cajundome.

P.J. Hardy nailed a 3 with 2:20 left in the game to go up 80-77, and after a Jaguar turnover, Cedric Russell doubled the Ragin' Cajun lead with 1:33 on the clock.

Louisiana (12-7, 3-3 Sun Belt) was unable to pull away, missing five of its next eight free throw attempts. South Alabama (9-11, 2-5) went 2 for 5 at the stripe, missed a 3 and committed a turnover in that same span. Junior Herb McGee converted from distance with 13.8 seconds left to pull within 86-82 and LA missed a pair of free throws with 10.5 on the clock. Sophomore R.J. Kelly made a layup with 3.9 remaining but JaKeenan Gant hit twice at the stripe to put the game away.

Gant finished with 28 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Cajuns. USA juniors Trhae Mitchell and Josh Ajayi each recorded a double-double with 31 points and 23 points, respectively, and 12 rebounds apiece.

GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars scored the first five points of the contest, but the biggest lead by either team the rest of the half was four and the Cajuns went into halftime up 41-39
- Eight straight points by South Alabama turned a five-point deficit into a 49-46 lead early in the second half following two free throws from Ajayi with 16:04 on the clock
- The two teams were separated by no more than three points for almost 14 minutes until Russell's triple put Louisiana up six
- Two free throws and a dunk from Ajayi gave the Jags a 61-58 advantage with 11:32 left, one they did not relinquish until Jerekius Davis hit consecutive buckets, the second coming with 6:08 remaining for a 71-70 lead
- Mitchell made a layup on USA's next trip down the floor to regain the lead and added a pair of free throws to extend the advantage to 74-71
- Marcus Stroman made a pair of free throws, and after Ajayi went 1 for 2 at the line, Justin Miller converted a layup and a jumper for a 77-75 lead; Mitchell tied the game 28 seconds later with his 31st and final point of the night before Hardy's triple
- Mitchell's 31 points are a new career high and both he and Ajayi recorded double-doubles for the second straight game
- Sophomore John Pettway tied his personal best with 14 points and McGee tallied 10
- Hardy and Russell combined for nine 3-pointers and finished with 18 and 15 points, respectively, while Davis added 17

NOTES
- Louisiana has tied the series up at 27-27 and has won the last five meetings, the longest win streak for either team
- Ajayi leads the conference with eight double-doubles this season
- Mitchell scored 23 points in the first half alone, the most by a Jaguar in any half this season, and his 31 points tonight is a new team season high
- Mitchell is the second Jag to break the 30-point barrier this season (Sikes, 30 vs. Southeast Missouri)
- Pettway has set or tied his career-high of 14 points in each of the last two games; he scored 36 points combined in his previous 18 outings
- Ajayi and Mitchell have scored 20 points or more in the same game twice this season, both in the last two games, and have each recorded double-doubles in back-to-back outings; the last time it had occurred just once by two USA players was in 2013-14
- The Jaguars have had a 20-point scorer in all but two games this season, including 12 straight outings
- South Alabama has lost five consecutive games, but four of those losses were by four points or fewer, with one in overtime; the team is 0-5 in games decided by fewer than five points
- USA won the battle of the boards (36-29) for the first time since the Appalachian State game on Jan. 3
- The Jags shot 28.6 percent from 3-point land tonight and are converting 28.7 percent from distance in their last five games
- South Alabama is 1-9 when trailing at halftime this year
- Ajayi's 23 points came on 6-of-11 shooting; the 54.5 shooting percentage is his lowest in six games – he was converting 70.5 percent from the field in his previous four outings and leads the Sun Belt at .572
- South Alabama's starters accounted for all 84 points

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "It's another close loss; it hurts. Losing is tough and I looked at our guys in the locker room just now and some of them were really hurting. That's gradual progression from where we were earlier in the season. I questioned them earlier in the season how much it hurt them to lose and we've got some guys that are really hurting tonight. We just have to do more of the little things that impacts winning, whether it's a loose ball, an offensive rebound or a missed shot; those are the plays you have to make to win on the road against a good team like these guys, and we weren't able to make them."

On the final two minutes: "We were right there and they made that big 3 and it rattled us a little bit. The crowd got loud, we didn't score, we needed a stop and they hit another big 3. That's the way it goes at home sometimes. We didn't do a good enough job covering them and they made them. We missed some key free throws down the stretch. It's frustrating. I give our kids credit – some of our guys are getting better and I think people can see that. It's going to pay off for them. I don't know when or how. Right now it doesn't feel like it with this season, it's going to pay off."

On Mitchell and Ajayi's performances: "They're two of the best players in the league right now. They've come a long way. Trhae's improvement has been drastic; I'm so proud of him. It's no accident. He's extremely coachable every single day, he works his tail off every day and he's fallen in love with basketball. When we first got here, he didn't love basketball and he would admit that. It's changed him and it helps our team out a lot. Josh got off to a slow start. When he's awake and he's playing at that level, he's as good a post player as there is in this league. I told him that we can't afford on this team for him to be that for 25 minutes. Next year he can do that for 25 minutes and we'll be in good shape, but this year he has to be that for 35 or 40 minutes. We ask a lot of Trhae and Josh and they're raising the bar every game; they're doing everything they can to help us win."

UP NEXT
South Alabama goes to ULM Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

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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—USA—