MOBILE, Ala. – Isaac Okoro hit a layup with 2.9 seconds on the clock to give No. 22 Auburn a 70-69 win over the University of South Alabama men's basketball team Tuesday night at the Mitchell Center.

USA rallied from a 10-point deficit in the last four minutes and took the lead with 28.4 seconds on the clock on a 3-pointer from senior Andre Fox to cap a 13-2 run. Fox scored 11 of the 13 points, part of his game-high 23 total.

On Auburn's next possession, shots from Anfernee McLemore and J'Von McCormick were off the mark, but Samir Doughty came up with the offensive rebound each time, and Okoro was able to get his shot off after a dish underneath the basket.

Senior Josh Ajayi joined Fox in double-digit points with 15 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama led for most of the first half but allowed a 14-4 run in the final 4:52 of the first half to give Auburn a 38-30 halftime lead
- The Tigers jumped out to a 12-point advantage early in the second half on 3s from McCormick and McLemore, but the Jags answered back with six unanswered to trail 44-38
- Four different Auburn players contributed points in 14-6 rally to give AU its largest lead of the contest, 61-47 with 9:07 to play
- Down 63-49 with 7:49 to play, the Jaguars scored seven consecutive points to trim the deficit to seven, and after a 3-point play from Doughty, Fox started the comeback with a jumper; 37 seconds later, hit a triple to make it a five-point contest
- Ajayi converted a pair of free throws at the 1:45 mark and Fox nailed another triple as the clock hit one minute to knot the game at 66-66
- Okoro came up big on the other end, throwing down a baseline dunk with 46.2 left to retake the lead, but following a timeout, Fox put the Jaguars up one with a 3-pointer
- The Tigers put four in double-figure scoring, led by Okoro's 15; McLemore and Jamal Johnson added 14 apiece, and Doughty recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards

NOTES
- Auburn leads the series 7-4 and has won four in a row; tonight was AU's first trip to Mobile as a USA opponent since December 1995
- Ajayi passed Virgil Stanescu to move into sixth in USA history in career rebounds (649), and tied Demetric Bennett for 10th in career field goals (475)
- Fox recorded his second career double-double and first of the season with 10 rebounds
- South Alabama held a 36-28 advantage in the paint and won the rebounding battle 38-36
- The Jaguars fell to 6-41 all-time against ranked teams (3-7 since 2005)
- Auburn converted 41.7% (10-24) from 3-point land; South Alabama's first two opponents shot just 22.9% (8-35)
- The Jags were credited with eight steals, giving them 31 on the year; that's the seventh-most in the first three games of any season

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "I'm proud of my kids, I felt like we battled and overcame a lot of adversity, but when you are playing the No. 22 team — and a team of their caliber — sometimes battling isn't quite good enough. It wasn't tonight. We're going to talk about those last two rebounds for sure and how that payed out, but there were so many possessions where we just didn't execute, made mistakes or had mental errors that you can't make against a team like them. They are an NCAA Tournament team coming off a Final Four, they know how to win. They have one of the best coaches in the country. You just can't make those mistakes if you're going to beat them. I love my guys, but we have a lot of work to do because we didn't play good enough to win."

On the record crowd in the Mitchell Center: "I want to thank our crowd, the crowd was tremendous. It was unbelievable. They gave us an energy level that was special. Tonight was special for our guys, it was something our kids will remember for the rest of their life. They are going to remember playing in this atmosphere, it was really cool. I hope that we can get them back and that we won some fans. If you live in Mobile — whether or not you were at the game tonight — and you like basketball, come watch us play; come see how hard our kids play, see how they act and see how they compete. Don't just come because it's Auburn, don't just come when we get a big-time in-state team in here. This is Mobile's team."

On how important the team's early foul trouble was: "It killed us. You have the preseason player of the year, Trhae Mitchell, who gets two fouls in the first two minutes, you have Ajayi who only plays 10 minutes, it really hurt our rhythm. Those guys are obviously out there a lot for us normally, to not have them out there for a whole half — especially in that environment — it hurt us; those are two fifth-year seniors who play a lot of minutes in bug games who weren't out there. I thought it disrupted Trhae's rhythm too, in the second half he just wasn't himself. But in these games, when you are the mid-major team, there are going to be obstacles you have to overcome, and we were able to do that and put ourselves in a position to win. It certainly hurt us, but it wasn't the reason we lost the game — we just didn't make enough plays."

On the key to getting back into the game in the second half: "We executed on both sides of the ball. We played a lot of zone — which we do anyway — because man-to-man we struggled to guard them, they have unbelievable individual talent; it's hard to guard those guys in a one-on-one setting. Our zone execution was really good in the final 12 minutes. We were locked into the plan, were able to get stops and rebounds, and get out and run. And offensively we executed, we had some actions down the stretch where our guys focused and were able to get some easy baskets and some confidence. And the crowd. When that ball goes in and we started cutting into it [the lead], it was loud]. Those things were big parts of it."

On Andre Fox: "He is a big-game player. I talked with my staff this morning about who we knew would be locked in and ready to go and not shy away from the moment, he was the first person who came out of my mouth. He never shies away from the moment, he loves the big moment as you could see from the two huge shots he hit down the stretch. He hit countless baskets for us to keep us there in the mix, and he had 10 rebounds which was incredible for a guard in a game like this."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars go on the road for the first time this season, traveling to Chattanooga Friday for a 6 p.m. CST tip.

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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