Game 13 • Mobile Rams (5-5) at South Alabama Jaguars (6-6, 0-2)
December 28, 2019 • 3 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 23-23 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 58-51 (4th year)
Record vs. Mobile: 3-0

Mobile
Darnell Archey (Butler, 2003)
Record at UM: 5-5 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama never led in an 81-69 loss to Coastal Carolina. Mobile lost an exhibition to West Florida 77-67 on Dec. 19.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars resume Sun Belt play Jan. 2 at Louisiana. The Rams host Blue Mountain.

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. 25)
USA: #197 NET, #203 Sagarin
UM: N/A

THE SERIES
South Alabama leads 5-0.

Current streak: USA, 5 wins
Last meeting: South Alabama 86, Mobile 47 (12/20/19)
UM's last win at Mitchell Center: None
USA's record at Mitchell Center: 5-0
USA's record at home: 5-0
USA's home streak: Won 5
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 0

Notes: The first meeting in the series came in 2009… The two schools met three consecutive seasons starting in 2009… The 2011-12 matchup, a 74-63 USA victory, is the closest in the series… South Alabama won an exhibition prior to the 2015-16 season 98-43, and 2016-17, 77-46.

OPENING TIP
Mobile head coach Darnell Archey was a South Alabama assistant from 2013-18.

South Alabama is 5-0 when outshooting and 5-1 when outrebounding its opponent, but 1-6 when being outshot and 1-5 when being outrebounded. The Jags have been outshot and outrebounded in each of their last five losses.

Coastal Carolina grabbed 53 rebounds in the Jaguars' last outing, the most by an opponent since Tulsa in 2009-10.

USA is 0-2 in Sun Belt play for the first time since 2015-16.

Since committing a season-high 20 turnovers vs. Alabama A&M, the Jaguars have had just 22 since, including 10 their last time out vs. Coastal Carolina. The team ranks 51st in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (12.1).

South Alabama rebounded from scoring 21 points and shooting 20.0% in the first half last Saturday — its second-lowest under head coach Richie Riley — to record 48 points on 51.7% shooting in the second.

This season the Jags are averaging 10 more points after halftime (42.8) than before (32.8). Four times this year the team has scored 20 more points in the second half than the first, including a season-high 27 vs. Coastal Carolina.

Coastal Carolina scored 42 points in the paint, tied for the second-most by an opponent this season. In the last three games, South Alabama is giving up 45.3 points in the paint.

Chad Lott led the Jaguars vs. the Chanticleers with 19 points, tied for his second-most this season, and his highest total since scoring 20 vs. Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 26. In the second half alone, he tallied 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also added three steals and two blocks.

Lott is second in the Sun Belt and 39th in the nation in field-goal percentage at .583. He is surpassed by Josh Ajayi, who leads the league and is 31st in Division I at .598.

Trhae Mitchell just missed a double-double vs. CCU with eight points and a season-best 10 rebounds. He also recorded five assists and three blocks.

Mitchell has recorded three or more blocks four times in his last six outings. He leads the Sun Belt and ranks 31st in the nation with 2.4 per game. The Jaguars as a team are first in the conference and 24th in the nation with 5.4 per contest.

Don Coleman set a new career high against Coastal Carolina with 12 points on a career-high-tying four 3-pointers. He is 8 for 13 from distance in his last four games.

Herb McGee tied his season best with 12 points last Saturday. The previous season high was set three games prior at Richmond.

Head coach Richie Riley
On Saturday's game: "We have to get back to playing the game the right way. We haven't played the right way in a long time, and that was obvious in the opening weekend of conference play. We've talked about it a lot – we have to play with energy, passion and attention to detail, and a competitive spirit that leads to putting yourself in a position to win. Those things sound easily correctable, but they're not easy to correct a lot of times. That's what we've been working at. We've worked extremely hard and it'll be good to get back on the court and play and have one more game before we get back to conference play again."

On what they've been working on: "We're putting a premium on energy, effort and focus – a focus on the details of what we're doing, and doing that with a lot of energy and passion. We've talked about it throughout the season, but in the last few days it's been wide open. We still have one more practice before we play and I haven't decided who's going to start. With this team, it has to be like that; you have to earn everything you get, every single day. In the games, we have to do a good job of holding guys accountable. If they're not doing what they're supposed to, we have to get them out and give someone else an opportunity to come in and help us win. That's what we're doing moving forward. I told everybody on the team to have yourself mentally ready to play because you may get an opportunity that you didn't think you were going to get."

On Mobile: "It's obviously going to be a game that they're going to be ready for. Their coach (Darnell Archey) was here one time as an assistant and they're a team that's right here in our backyard. They're well coached, dangerous with the way they can score the ball, they're going to play really hard, and like I tell everybody, you have to show up and play every single game. You see it across the country – when you don't show up and play, it's hard for you to win. The days when teams played teams they were supposed to beat and usually beat them aren't around anymore. You have to play at a high level to win any game, especially with how motivated Mobile will be. We have to be motivated the same way. We always want to play these games with Mobile and Spring Hill; as long as I'm the head coach here, there's an open invitation for both of these teams to play because it's great for our community."

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
 
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