Game 1 • Pikeville Bears (5-0) at South Alabama Jaguars (0-0)
November 6, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 17-17 (1st year)
Overall Record: 52-45 (3rd year)
Record vs. Mississippi State: 0-0

Pikeville
Kelly Wells (Morehead State, 1994)
Record at UPIKE: 292-102 (13th year)
Overall Record: 300-121 (14th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama rallied late but fell 78-75 in an exhibition Sunday at Mississippi State. Pikeville ran its record to 5-0 with a 94-70 rout of Bethel on Saturday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars continue their season-opening homestand Saturday against Southern Miss. The Bears host Ohio University Eastern on Sunday.

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 (through end of 18-19)
USA: #236 NET, #212 Sagarin
UPIKE: #5 NAIA (preseason)

THE SERIES
This is the first meeting between the two schools.

OPENING TIP
Last season, South Alabama won 17 games for the first time since 2012-13. The team tied the most wins in the last 11 years with 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The Jaguars' Sun Belt scoring average of 73.3 was their highest since 2007-08.

USA set a new school record last season with 285 3-pointers and put up the second-most 3-point attempts in a single season (761). The team's 3-point percentage (.375) is ninth-best in school history.

The Jags had three players — Rodrick Sikes (80), Kory Holden (63) and Herb McGee (51) — record 50 or more 3s for the second time in USA history (2006-07).

USA ended its exhibition vs. Mississippi State on a 27-14 run, including 16-4 spurt over a 1:35 span late in the contest to come back from a 16-point deficit, before eventually falling 78-75.

The Jaguars shot 55.9% in the second half, doubling its percentage of 25.8% in the first.

Josh Ajayi will enter the 2019-20 season tied with Henry Williams for 11th in school history with 454 made field goals. He is 21 away from tying Demetric Bennett for 10th.

Ajayi is also 12th at South Alabama in career points with 1,269, and needs 40 to tie Roger Webb in 11th.

Ajayi led the team with 11 20-point games last season, including four in his last six outings. He averaged 18.6 ppg in that span.

Ajayi (2nd) and Trhae Mitchell (3rd) were both named all-Sun Belt last season. They are the first pair of USA teammates to earn all-conference distinction since 2009.

Ajayi led the league in field goal percentage (.560) and was second in double-doubles (10). The 10 double-doubles were the most since Augustine Rubit had 12 in 2013-14.

Ajayi led the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and was second in rebounding (7.4 rpg).

Mitchell is the first player in school history to lead the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in the same season, and second to have 200 rebounds and 100 assists in one year

Mitchell finished second in the Sun Belt and 31st in the nation in blocks per game (2.1), and his total of 71 was the second most by a junior in school history and fifth most overall. He blocked eight shots in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament, tied for third in school history and one shy of the record.

Don Coleman, Chad Lott and Josh Ayeni will be returning to the court for the first time since the 2017-18 season after sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. Coleman led California in scoring at 14.2 ppg, Fox was named All-Big South at High Point, and Ayeni started for a NCAA Tournament team at St. Bonaventure at their previous stops.

Fox led all scorers with 30 points in the exhibition at Mississippi State. He shot 9 for 17 from the floor and 5 for 9 from 3-point land, and tallied 20 points after halftime, including 10 in a 1:13 stretch in the final 2:15.

Chad Lott, who transferred over the summer from Howard, was an All-MEAC selection in 2018-19 after putting up 14.3 ppg. He recorded 16 points — 12 in the second half alone — and a game-high-tying five assists vs. Mississippi State.

Head coach Richie Riley on Pikeville
On the season opener: "First of all, it's an honor to be able to coach against one of my mentors. Without Kelly Wells, I wouldn't be the head coach at South Alabama. He gave me an opportunity when I was 21 or 22 years old and was the only one willing to give me an opportunity. They have a really good team. They're a Division I opponent, from a talent and size standpoint, because they're a perennial power in NAIA. They're a top-5 team, they've won national championships, been to final fours and elite eights. They have plenty of guys on their roster that are Division I players. We're expecting a big-time challenge. We're playing a team that expects to win and that's always dangerous. When I was at that level, we treated that like the Super Bowl. They're playing against a Division I team that's expected to win their league, so there's going to be a lot of excitement and will be ready to play."

On what he liked from the exhibition: "I liked how we battled back. I thought we really battled back when we could've laid down, and that meant a lot to me, seeing that progression of where our program is going. The culture of our program is that we fight. We always play with a chip on our shoulder, and I thought we did that day. We just didn't make enough shots and had a few too many mistakes to beat a borderline top-25 team. I love the fact that we were able to get both of our freshmen 10 minutes in an environment like that and both of them had an impact on the game, so that was certainly a positive. I think it was great for guys like Andre Fox because he hadn't played a real game in a year, and for him to have that success against a really good team was a confidence builder. Don Coleman is a huge part of our team, as far as our tempo and how we play. He could be in foul trouble, so we have to make adjustments when he may not be out there, so I thought that was good for us. We were forced to score in the halfcourt more and had to use other guys as ballhandlers."

On Pikeville: "They have two guys that are really playing at a high level. They're 5-0 right now and have beaten a couple of really good teams. You look at Jordan Perry, he's a really good guard, can score on all three levels, has really good size and strength and I think has had a couple of 30-point games already. We have to do a great job on him and keep him out of rhythm. He's a kid that's going to come in with some confidence and he's going to be very aggressive. Then you have (Luke) Layhew inside who has really good size and strength. He's shooting almost 80% from the field right now, which is an insane number. If you allow him to get deep post catches, he's going to hurt you and get your big guys in foul trouble. We have to do a good job of containing Perry and keeping the ball out of the post because if Layhew gets it in there, he's efficient and can score. Kelly's teams have always scored the ball – they're averaging over 89 points per game right now, so they're going to come in here and get up and down, which is a tempo we want to play at too, so it should be an entertaining game."

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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