Game 11 • Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-4, 0-0) at South Alabama Jaguars (6-4, 0-0)
December 19, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 23-21 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 58-49 (4th year)
Record vs. Alabama A&M: 1-0

Appalachian State
Dustin Kerns (Clemson, 2002)
Record at App: 6-4 (1st year)  
Overall Record: 37-41 (3rd year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama built up a big lead early in an 89-79 victory vs. Alabama A&M on Tuesday. Appalachian State won its second straight game, defeating Howard 81-59 on Saturday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars play their final game before Christmas on Saturday against Coastal Carolina. The Mountaineers go to Troy.

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 (ratings through Dec. 17)
USA: #159 NET, #154 Sagarin
App: #133 NET, #161 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 8-1.

Current winning streak: South Alabama, 7 wins
App State's last win in series: 64-53 (1/22/15) in Boone
Last meeting: South Alabama 78, Appalachian State 71 (3/9/19)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 79-73 (1/3/19)
App State's last win at the Mitchell Center: N/A
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 5-0
USA's home streak: Won 5
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 7 / 1

Notes: The two schools split a pair of games in 2014-15, the first two in the series, with each team winning at home, before the Jaguars swept the 2015-16 season series to start its current seven-game win streak.

OPENING TIP
Since splitting the first two games in the series in 2014-15, South Alabama has won the last seven and are 5-0 at home. The last two games in Mobile have been decided by six points each.

USA is 22-20 all-time in Sun Belt openers but are 9-15 in the last 24 years despite winning its last three.

On Tuesday, the Jags shot 63.6% from the floor in the second half and 58.9% for the game. Both percentages are the team's second highest of the year (Miami, Nov. 26).

South Alabama set new season bests with time led (39:33) and points in the paint (58), and tied its season high with 49 first-half points.

Josh Ajayi scored 18 of his game-high 24 points Tuesday in the first half. The 18 first-half points are the most by a Jaguar since Trhae Mitchell scored 23 at Louisiana on Jan. 24. Ajayi put up his 24 points in less than 22 minutes of work.

Ajayi broke a tie with Demetric Bennett to move into eighth by himself at USA with 1,429 career points, and grabbed five rebounds to tie Henry Williams for fifth in USA history with 695.

South Alabama is 4-0 this season and 14-6 in Ajayi's career when he scores 20 points or more.

Ajayi is averaging 21.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in five career games vs. App State with three double-doubles. He is shooting 60.3% from the floor, 50.0% (6-12) from 3-point land and 78.1% from the free-throw line. In last year's regular-season finale in Boone, he had 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting and four rebounds. That ended a run of three consecutive double-doubles where he put up 21.7 points and 12.3 boards.

Ajayi is second in the Sun Belt in field-goal percentage (.612), third in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and tied for eighth in scoring (16.0 ppg).

Chad Lott, who tallied 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting vs. Alabama A&M, leads the league in field-goal percentage at .613. He has shot 50% or better eight times in 10 games this season.

In his last five games, Lott is averaging 16.2 points and 6.4 rebounds, with a .640 shooting percentage.

Andre Fox was held to a season-low seven points Tuesday, ending his streak of nine straight games with 10 points or more dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season. He dropped to seventh in the Sun Belt in points per game (16.1 ppg) but is third in free-throw percentage (.846), seventh in 3-point percentage (.370) and tied for eighth in 3s per game (2.0).

Mitchell has recorded three blocks or more three times in his last four outings, including five Tuesday vs. AAMU. He leads the conference with 2.6 per contest

After averaging just 6.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in his first three games against Appalachian State, Mitchell averaged 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games last season. He posted a double-double in each game, including an 18-point, 11-rebound performance in Boone.

KK Curry enjoyed a career night against Alabama A&M, posting new personal bests with 15 points and six rebounds. He missed just one shot in six attempts and went 5 for 7 from the stripe.

Herb McGee set new season highs Tuesday with eight rebounds and six assists, and a new career best with three blocks. The six assists tied the most by a Jaguar this season.

Head coach Richie Riley on Appalachian State
On Thursday's game: "It's a new season. That's the way we approach it; it's a new part of the season that we've been waiting on. There have been lofty expectations for our team as far as the Sun Belt Conference goes. It's time for us to go out there and see where we stack up. We're healthy almost 100%, which is great going into league play, and we open at home. We've got a very good App State team coming in. (Head coach) Dustin (Kerns) has done a good job after taking over. He's got them playing at a really high level, so it's going to be really challenging. "

On the improvements made Tuesday night: "I was very encouraged on both sides of the ball. I felt like our ball movement was as good as it's been all year; we had 12 assists at halftime, which is really good. Defensively, I felt like we were really engaged. We held them to 27% in the first half and zero made 3s. Our fundamentals were much better, as it should be because we had practiced a lot. That's the good thing about practicing because you get to fine tune some things. I felt like those things showed early on. Unfortunately, our substitutions late ended up making the score closer than it should have been. I was very encouraged by the first 30 minutes of the game."

On Appalachian State: "They have some guys returning from last year that were producers. Obviously (Justin) Forrest is the headliner. He's their leading scorer and go-to guy. He scored a lot last year so he's a seasoned veteran in our league. He's certainly a guy we have to do a good job on to have hopes of winning the game. But they have a good supporting cast. (Adrian) Delph has taken another step for them, and (Isaac) Johnson's activity level and versatility is something that's challenging to defend. We have to do a good job of keeping him off the glass. Offensively they do some really good things with their motion; they really make you guard and defend different screens. We have to remain disciplined like we did last night. We showed some signs of being a good defensive team and we have to take those things into Thursday night if we're going to start 1-0 in the league."

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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