CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Chattanooga went on a 19-1 run midway through the first half and never trailed again in a 90-72 victory over the University of South Alabama men's basketball team Friday night at The McKenzie Arena.

The Mocs shot 57.1% from the floor in the first half and 54.8% for the game, and had two players score 20 points or more.

In the game-deciding spurt, Chattanooga converted eight of its 14 shots and outrebounded South Alabama 12-5, while forcing nine consecutive misses on the other end, including all six 3-point attempts. The Jags responded with seven straight points and got within six but the Mocs outscored the Jags 19-7 the rest of the first half for a 41-23 halftime lead.

South Alabama got 24 points from senior Andre Fox and 18 from graduate Chad Lott.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama opened by scoring eight of the game's first 11 points, thanks to a couple of buckets from senior Don Coleman
- The Jaguars went cold after that as the Mocs got 14 total points from Matt Ryan (6 points), David Jean-Baptiste (4) and Ramon Vila (4) in the next 7:42 to take a 22-9 lead
- Fox and Lott combined for all of the game's next seven points to trim the deficit but the Jaguars made just three field goals the rest of the half
- Down 28 at the midpoint of the second half, USA went to work at the free-throw line and used a 21-9 burst to get the UTC lead down to 16 with 4:54 to play; ten of the team's points came from the free-throw line in as many attempts
- Two buckets from Lott sandwiched around two free throws from junior Josh Ayeni made it a 15-point contest with 2 ½ minutes to play but that's as close as the Jaguars would get
- Jean-Baptiste led all scorers with 25 points, and Ryan and Vila added 20 and 17, respectively
- Ayeni scored 12 points for the Jags off the bench

NOTES
- The series is now tied 2-2; the Mocs are 2-0 in Chattanooga
- Ayeni's 12 points are his first of the season; he went scoreless in the opening three games of the year
- Chattanooga held a 21-15 edge in points off turnovers, 40-22 in the paint and 22-12 on second-chance points
- Lott grabbed a game-high seven rebounds
- South Alabama posted a negative assist-turnover ratio (11 assists, 13 turnovers) for the first time in 2019-20
- USA converted 21 of its 24 attempts from the charity stripe for the game, including 20 of 22 in the second half
- The Jags have shot 87.5% or better from the free-throw line twice in the same season for the first time since 2009-10 (min. 20 FTM)
- Senior Josh Ajayi, who came into the game ranked first in the Sun Belt in rebounding and second in field-goal percentage, was held to two points and two rebounds

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "It was embarrassing; we were an absolute embarrassment. From me, all 15 guys on our team, to everybody that's a part of our program, they should be embarrassed. We were a complete no-show. We came out and played soft and undisciplined, and we struggled to be locked into the game plan and that's on me as the head coach. I've got to get our guys prepared and right now we're not a good basketball team right now; we've got a lot of work to do."

On Chattanooga's early run: "They played really tight in the paint, gave us open shots and we didn't make them. That carried over to the defensive end. We had zero focus. I just don't see how as a team you can do that, especially with the veteran guys that we have. Again, it's on me. There's nobody to blame but me because I'm the head coach. Our focus has to be better; you've got to have tremendous focus to win on the road and we didn't have it tonight. They started throwing punches and we didn't punch back for a long time. We dug a hole that we couldn't get out of."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars return to the Mitchell Center Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. clash with city rival Spring Hill.

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

—USA—