MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team finished the first half with a 17-4 scoring burst to break open a close game and cruised to an 82-51 season-opening win over Pikeville Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.

Senior Trhae Mitchell recorded 15 points and tied the USA record and set a new arena mark with nine blocks. Senior Josh Ajayi posted his 20th career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and added three blocks of his own.

Graduate Chad Lott tallied a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and was one of five Jaguars in double-digit points.

USA scored 13 unanswered points in its 17-4 rally, sparked by six points from Lott and four from senior Don Coleman. The Jags opened the second half with 10 unanswered points to open up a 23-point lead.

GAME FACTS
- The game was tied at 16-16 at the 9:56 mark, but Ajayi broke the tie with a 3-point play to start the 17-4 run
- All 13 of the Jags' consecutive points during that span came in the paint or at the free-throw line
- Pikeville missed the its last six shots of the first half and only broke the run with a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left
- The second half started the same way the first half ended as the Bears went 0 for 8 from the floor while the Jags reeled off 10 straight points for a 43-20 advantage
- Senior Andre Fox finally got unleashed and had five consecutive points – three from the foul line – to spark a 9-2 run, capped off with back-to-back buckets from freshman KK Curry at the 10:43 mark
- South Alabama stretched its lead out to 37 late in the contest following the first career 3-pointer from freshman Adam Sizemore
- Luke Layhew paced the Bears with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and five rebounds

NOTES
- South Alabama is 44-8 all-time in home openers and has won 28 in a row, in a streak that dates back to 1992
- Tonight was the first meeting between the two schools; USA head coach Richie Riley was an assistant under current Pikeville head coach Kelly Wells from 2005-09
- The Jaguars' 31-point win is tied for the seventh-biggest in a season-opening game
- Mitchell tied the record set by Kelly Blaine in 1984 vs. Alabama State and Frank Wilson in 1994 vs. UAB; Mitchell is the first of that group to score 15 points in a nine-block outing
- The team's 12 blocks are tied for third in a game overall and tied the most in the Mitchell Center
- Ajayi is the ninth Jaguar to have 13 or more points and rebounds in a season opener, and first since Mychal Ammons vs. Detroit in 2013-14
- Neither team made a 3-pointer in the first half; USA went 0-9 from distance and UPIKE went 0 for 6
- South Alabama outscored Pikeville 21-4 on turnovers and recorded 46 points in the paint
- Eight Jaguars saw their first game action in a South Alabama uniform, including freshman Tyreke Locure who dished out a game-best six assists, and Curry, who totaled 10 points, all in the second half

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "It was an honor to play this game and coach against one of my mentors Kelly Wells, who gave me an opportunity when I was 21 years old to go to Hawaii Pacific, and then he brought me home to Pikeville. He is a mentor and one of my closet friends. He was in my wedding, so it meant a lot to compete against him and a place that meant a lot to me. Pikeville is where I learned how to coach; I did laundry, drove buses, swept floors, and I got to learn the craft of coaching. It's where I met my wife and a lot of special people, so to be able to play that game tonight was very special.

Pikeville has a really good team, and they are going to have a really good chance to win a national title at their level. They came out expecting to win the game, and a lot games you don't get a chance to play against a culture like Pikeville. You could see the disappointment after the game because they felt like they were going to win the game and I love that because I'm the same way. I thought at times we showcased who we are, but I thought there were a lot of minutes tonight we didn't play our best. At times we played sloppy and pressed a little bit too much because it was the first game of the season. However, to win a game by 31 against a team of their caliber is certainly an accomplishment and I'm proud of our guys. We are going to get in the film room tomorrow and correct some things so that we can be better Saturday against Southern Miss."

On Chad Lott's performance: "He is a wolf. For the fan that is seeing him on the court for the first time, they might think that he's making tough shots, but they aren't tough for him; I see him do it every day in practice. He is a competitive guy and may be the most competitive that I've ever coached. That's a bold statement but day in and day out, this is what we see at practice. He's not perfect, but he's perfect for me because he plays so hard and just cares about winning. He and Trhae Mitchell can do so many things out there to where even if some of our other guys don't play as well, they take us to another level. I was really proud of Chad and how he played."

On the first-half run: "Defensively we were very good, we disrupted them at the end of the second half to build a 13-point lead going into halftime. Then starting the second half we shut them out for the first six or seven minutes and we were very disruptive. We finished with 12 blocks, Trhae Mitchell had nine. He is a Swiss army knife. He will do everything for us, he doesn't care about his point totals or that he's Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year, he cares about being the best teammate that he can be and playing as hard as he can. Trhae was a big key for us because those blocks started our transition and gave us some energy when we play with that type of energy we are a good team."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars continue their homestand Saturday against Southern Miss 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—