STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team came back from down 17 in the final minutes, but a last-ditch 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out in a 78-75 exhibition loss at Mississippi State Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.

USA senior Andre Fox scored a game-high 30 points, including 20 in the second half alone. Graduate Chad Lott scored 12 of his 16 points after halftime and senior Trhae Mitchell had 14 points and five rebounds.

Trailing 62-45 with less than 6 ½ minutes left in the game, South Alabama made its next 10 shots and went on a 28-12 run, including 12-2 to close to 74-73 with 48.9 seconds left. Fox accounted for 10 points in that last stretch alone, converting a 4-point play and hitting another trey nine seconds later.

The Jags had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds but was unable to convert. After two Mississippi State free throws stretched the lead out to 78-75, a last-ditch 3-pointer from Mitchell was just off the mark.

GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars got off to a fast start, scoring the game's first five points and holding an 8-3 lead just over three minutes into the contest
- USA held a 14-10 lead at the 11:17 mark until MSU reeled off 13 consecutive points to go up 23-14, and made it a 17-3 burst following a layup from Prince Oduro to take a 27-17 lead
- Mississippi State took a 32-25 lead into intermission despite shooting 38.5% from the floor and committing 13 turnovers; the Jags shot just 25.8% from the field in the opening 20 minutes but were 1 for 8 from 3-point land
- South Alabama got as close as two and down as much as 10 in the first 10 minutes of the second half
- Mississippi State looked to pull away by scoring 10 unanswered points in a 2 ½ minute stretch, setting the stage for the South Alabama comeback
- The Jaguars were still down 13 with 2:26 left before Fox took over; he made a short jump shot, then after a layup from Lott, hit a 4-point play to get within five
- The Bulldogs turned it over on their next possession and Fox hit another trifecta with 1:37 to get to 72-70
- A bucket from MSU got the lead back up to four; Fox went 1 for 2 at the stripe but the Bulldogs turned it over again and senior Josh Ajayi dunked home two more points for a 74-73 score with 48.9 seconds on the clock
- The two teams traded free throws and MSU turned the ball over again with 40.4 seconds left; USA was unable to get a clean shot off and Mississippi State hit a pair of free throws on the other end

NOTES
- The Jaguars last played at Mississippi State to open the 2011-12 regular season
- Senior Don Coleman did not play due to injury
- There were 22 total turnovers in the first half
- Both teams shot well over 50% in the second half; the Jags doubled their scoring output from 25 to 50 from the first half and converted 55.9% from the floor, and the Bulldogs shot 64.3%
- Ajayi finished with 10 points and five boards
- Tyson Carter led Mississippi State with 19 points

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "We played a team that is an NCAA Tournament team today, in my opinion. Obviously, they are missing [Nick] Weatherspoon, but they have size and length. With Tyson Carter, the ability to really make shots. I think they are an NCAA Tournament team again. They went 23-11 last year, and I think they can beat that this year. I don't want to put any pressure on Coach Howland, but I think they've got a heck of a team. They're length really affected us. Our team doesn't see that length every day in practice. We have a pretty big team when it comes to the Sun Belt and the mid-major level, but they have a big team when it comes to any team in the country. They're big, they've got NBA-type size. It affected us at the rim a lot, and it took our confidence away early.

"At halftime, we regrouped and came out okay early. Then, they [MSU] went on that big run. I was really proud of our crew that we kept fighting. We kept fighting and came back and had a shot to take the lead with under a minute left. Overall, I'm proud of our guys. In our program, there is no moral victories, so that's not the case. I told our team that I don't care if we play the Los Angeles Clippers, who everyone is saying is the best NBA team right now. If we played them and they beat us, it's not a moral victory. You either win or you lose."

On Andre Fox's performance: "Yeah, to get him last year was huge. He just has a knack for scoring the ball. He's an elite scorer, one of those rare types of kids where you can throw him in any venue or any game against whoever. He's going to find a way to put the ball in the basket. He scores on all three levels, which he did tonight. He made five 3s, got to the cup, got fouled, got to the line 10 times and made a couple of tough mid-range pull-ups. He can really score. I think he's going to have a special year. Every intrasquad that we've had, he's scored 25-plus points. He can really, really score.

"I don't think Fox will score 25 every night because we've got some guys that can put it into the basket, but he's a game changer. I think he's one of the best kept secrets out there because he played in the Big South at High Point. There's not a Big South Network on national TV or a Sun Belt Network on national TV, like there is the SEC Network. So, the common fan doesn't get to see those type of guys. He's a really special guard."

On the team not quitting: "We coach our guys with a lot of energy and passion, so our team is built like that. It's really a testament to our kids because human nature would have told them just to lay down, 'It's not going to count anyways' or 'We'll go back and play for real on November 6th.' We're just not built like that, we don't quit. I think that goes back to how we condition in the preseason, how we coach them every day and the culture that we've tried to establish in our second year at South Alabama.

"We've got the right group of kids that stand for the right things and are super competitive. They didn't want to get blown out down there. Like I said, we came with the expectation to win the game, even playing a special team like Mississippi State. We work too hard to not have that expectation. So, when we got in that huddle we said, 'We can't let these guys run us out of here. We've got to buckle down and find a way'. We were able to pressure them and fight through on some shots. We fought our way all the way back, and I was very proud of that.
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars open the 2019-20 regular season at home on Nov. 6 against Pikeville at 7 p.m.

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—