Game 3 • #22 Auburn Tigers (2-0) at South Alabama Jaguars (2-0)
November 12, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (10,000) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 19-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: 54-45 (3rd year)
Record vs. Auburn: 0-1

Auburn
Bruce Pearl (Boston College, 1982)
Record at AU: 102-72 (6th year)
Overall Record: 564-213 (25th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama held off a late charge from Southern Miss in a 75-69 win Saturday. Auburn jumped out to an early lead against Davidson and never trailed in a 76-66 win Friday over Davidson.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars will play their first road game of the year Friday at Chattanooga. The Tigers host Cal-State Northridge on Friday.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video); J.D. Byars (pxp), Pat Greenwood (color)

RANKINGS (RPI ratings through Nov. 10)
USA: #240 RPI, #148 Sagarin
AU: #22 AP, #112 RPI, #32 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Auburn leads 6-4.

Current winning streak: Auburn, 3 wins
USA's last win in series: 68-66 (12/1/00)
Last meeting: Auburn 101, South Alabama 58 (11/6/19) in Auburn
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
USA's last win in Mobile: 95-73 (12/9/83)
AU's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
AU's last win in Mobile: 59-50 (12/12/95)
USA's record at home: 1-1
USA's home streak: Lost 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 2 / 3

Notes: The two schools have met just twice since the 2001-02 season… South Alabama won three of the first four meetings, with two wins, Dec. 9, 1983 and Dec. 21, 1991, coming by 20 points or more… The Tigers' last visit to Mobile was in the 1995-96 season.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is 2-0 for the first time since 2016-17 and just the third time since 1996-97.

Auburn last visited Mobile in the 1995-96 season and won 59-50.

The Jaguars are 6-40 all-time against ranked opponents, but 3-6 since 2005. Tuesday will be the second meeting against a ranked Auburn squad (2018-19).

The last ranked opponent to visit Mobile was No. 25 Houston in December 2005. South Alabama won 66-62.

USA shot 22 for 24 (91.7%) from the free-throw line Saturday, tied for fourth in school history (min. 20 FTM). Andre Fox went 9 for 9 and Josh Ajayi went 8 for 9.

Fox is the first Jaguar to go 9 for 9 or better in a game since Ken Williams vs. Troy on March 7, 2015.

The Jags blocked four shots vs. Southern Miss — three by Chad Lott — to give them 16 so far in two games. That total is the most by any USA team in its first two games.

South Alabama has also been getting it done in the steals category, recording 23 in its first two outings. The 23 thefts are the program's most over a two-game span since totaling 25 in December 2009, and the ninth-most ever to start a season.

Auburn is averaging 18.0 turnovers in its first two games, including 21 vs. Georgia Southern.

The Jags have held their first two opponents to just 22.9% shooting from 3-point land.

Ajayi scored 20 of his career-high 30 points Saturday after halftime, and shot 10 for 14 from the field and 2 for 4 from 3-point land.

Ajayi moved up to 11th in USA history in career points (1,312), passing Roger Webb, and into seventh in career rebounds (640) past John May. Ajayi needs 38 points for 10th (Demetrice Williams) and eight rebounds for sixth (Virgil Stanescu).

Ajayi had 10 points and four rebounds in last year's game in Auburn. Trhae Mitchell had seven points and three blocks.

Fox scored nine of his 16 points vs. Southern Miss at the free-throw line. He has shot 3 for 10 from the field and 1 for 6 from 3-point territory in each of his first two games.

Auburn scored 101 points in last season's meeting, its second-most against South Alabama, but only 31 points have returned in 2019-20. Samir Doughty and Anfernee McLemore had 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Head coach Richie Riley on Auburn
On Tuesday's game: "We're excited. We've talked a lot since I've been here about removing the tarps, and this morning while we were practicing they were removing them, which is pretty awesome. This is a big-time game. I'm really appreciative of Coach Pearl for bringing his team down here. It's an unbelievable opportunity for our basketball team to play in an incredible environment and to play one of the best teams in the country."

On making winning plays: "You have to control your emotions in a game like this. It has to come down to how much discipline, composure and poise you have because we don't play in this environment every night. This is going to be new for some of our guys to play on our home court with 10,000 strong in here. We have to control our emotions, and how do you do that? You focus and play really hard, and winning plays go into that. We have to use that energy in a positive way to make all of those winning plays, whether it's the first one to the floor for a loose ball, taking a charge or any of the hustle plays – we have to own that category when you're playing a team as good as Auburn."

On Auburn: "They're obviously a very dangerous team. They're playing a lot of new guys, there's an adjustment period for them. They're explosive. They're different in the fact that they lost Bryce Brown, Jared Harper and Chuma Okeke, who are great players, but they have an unbelievable amount of talent in their program. They just have guys that waited for their opportunity. They were talented enough to be out there last year on a Final Four team, but didn't because of the guys ahead of them. Now they're getting the opportunity. (Samir) Doughty, (Danjel) Purifoy, (J'Von) McCormick are taking another step in their careers, and Austin Wiley is finally healthy where he's playing at a high level. Then you have a freshman that's one of the best in the country in (Isaac) Okoro. They are extremely talented, have great size, are great individual players and are coached by one of the best coaches in America.

It's a challenge – I think everybody knows that. Anytime you have a top-25 team coming in it's a challenge, but we're excited about it. In our program, we want to play the best and to be able to do that on our home court is unique and a great opportunity."

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).

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
 
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