MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama senior Josh Ajayi scored 20 of his career-high 30 points in the second half and the Jaguars survived a late Southern Miss rally in a 75-69 victory Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Jaguars (2-0) led by nine with 8:29 remaining on a 3-point play from Ajayi but went through a drought thereafter, making just one of their last 11 shots, allowing the Golden Eagles (1-1) to get back in the game. Boban Jacdonmi and Artur Konontsuk combined for 10 points in a 12-4 run as Kononstuk hit a jumper with 46.6 seconds left to pull within 70-69.

Ajayi went to the line with 22.5 seconds on the clock and made 1 of 2, but on the ensuing possession, Southern Miss threw the ball away. Senior Trhae Mitchell came up with the steal and made a pair of free throws to put the game away.

Andre Fox tallied 16 points and Mitchell had 12 points. Jacdonmi led USM with 19 points and nine rebounds. Leonard Harper-Baker recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 boards.

GAME FACTS
- The largest lead for either team in the first half was five – 23-18 – by Southern Miss at the 8:48 mark; the Jags scored the next nine points, only to see the Golden Eagles reel off the next eight
- USM grabbed an early lead in the second half, breaking a 38-38 halftime deadlock
- South Alabama took control of the contest at the 15:10 mark as Fox and Ajayi combined for six consecutive points, with a layup from Ajayi giving the Jags the lead for good at 49-47 with 14:44 to play
- The lead stretched to 56-50 with a 15-5 scoring burst, capped off with a layup from graduate Chad Lott
- Ajayi tacked on six more points, hitting a triple and 1:33 later, converted a 3-point play for a 66-57 advantage
- The Jaguars missed their next eight shots in a span of 6:13 but a layup from senior Herb McGee broke the string to go up 70-65 with 2:14 left
- USA went 0 for 2 on its next two possessions and on the other end, Gabe Watson and Konontsuk made a pair of jumpers to make it a one-point contest with 46 seconds remaining
- The Jaguars forced three turnovers in the final seven seconds

NOTES
- South Alabama is 2-0 for the first time since 2016-17 and for the third time since 1996-97
- USA's free-throw percentage of .917 (22 of 24) is tied for fourth in school history (min. 20 FTM)
- Fox went 9 for 9 and Ajayi went 8 for 9 at the line; Fox is the first Jag to go 9 for 9 or better in a game since Ken Williams vs. Troy on March 7, 2015
- South Alabama outscored Southern Miss 18-2 on fast-break points
- USM won the battle of the boards 40-26
- The Jaguars have 23 steals in their first two games, the program's most over a two-game span since totaling 25 in December 2009, and the ninth-most ever to start a season
- The team's 16 blocks are the most in the first two games of a season in school history
- USA has held its first two opponents to 22.9% shooting from 3-point land

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "First, hats off to them – they made things difficult for us, they are very well coached and disciplined. Jay (Ladner) and I have coached against each other multiple times and he does a tremendous job. Their kids played very hard, they were physical, the zone bothered us, forcing us to miss open shots and they had a very good game plan. I tell our kids all the time, I call a spade a spade: we came out and we didn't have the best approach when it came to winning. We won the game and I'm happy about that, I'm proud of how we came together to gets stops when we couldn't hit a shot and how we made free throws; 22 of 24 is unbelievable. Josh Ajayi was a monster, I told our guys at halftime there's going to be some guys sitting on the bench if Josh doesn't get more touches – he has to touch it. We did a good job in the second half of getting him touches and he took advantage of them. When he's locked in and ready to go he's a really good player and I thought he was very good tonight."

On the team's approach to the game: "We came out flat, we were on our heels. I think what hurt us was that we were concerned about the wrong things. We were concerned about, where's my shot going to come from, am I going to get subbed out; some of the things that don't matter or equate to winning. We made some adjustments at halftime and during some of our media timeouts addressing those ideas and in the second half we were much better. Andre Fox was a very high energy guy, even though his shot wasn't necessarily falling, but he did a lot of good things. He was 9 for 9 from the free throw line and he was good in both our zone and man-to-man defenses. Chad Lott made a lot of winning plays that he wasn't making in the first half and I saw his mentality change. It wasn't our best game, I'll be honest, it's good when you can win and don't play all that well, but we need to improve and play better from here on out."

On having five ball-handlers on the court: "It's a great point, we have five guys that can handle it, and (Josh) Ajayi has really improved where he can step out on the perimeter and attack you, so we have five guys that handle the ball which makes it tough. I think we will see a lot of zone this year and we've been preparing for it in practice. I think we will see a lot of it because it's hard to play against us man-to-man with the guys we got and their ability to take it off the bounce. We love the versatility of this team, I love my team, and that's probably why I am so disappointed in here because we didn't play our best. We have practiced well the last two days and our focus was really good in shootaround today, and we didn't bring it to the court. We were in the huddle telling our guys that you play against each other and compete harder every day in practice than you do when we play Southern Miss. That doesn't make any sense, we're aggressively attacking each other playing so hard and competitive in practice, but then we get on the court and float through the first half, float through moments of the second half until it got to winning time and we buckled down and made the necessary plays. That's why I'm frustrated because I love my team and I think we have a chance to do something really special and be really, really good so I get disappointed when we don't play well. Southern Miss had a hand in that so go to give credit to them as well."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars host No. 24/23 Auburn Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

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