Game 25 • South Alabama Jaguars (12-12, 5-6) at Georgia Southern Eagles (14-10, 6-5)
February 13, 2019 • 6 p.m. CST • Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) • Statesboro, Ga.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 12-12 (1st year)
Overall Record: 47-40 (3rd year)
Record vs. Georgia Southern: 0-1

Ga. Southern
Mark Byington (UNC Wilmington, 1998)
Record at GS: 104-82 (6th year)
Overall Record: 111-86 (7th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama let a 10-point lead in the second half slip away in a 73-68 home loss to Little Rock. Georgia Southern lost 88-79 at ULM.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars stay in the Peach State for a clash Friday at Georgia State. The Eagles host Troy.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video)

RANKINGS (through Feb. 10)
USA: #256 NET, #213 Sagarin
GS: #131 NET, #128 Sagarin

THE SERIES
South Alabama leads 11-6.

Current streak: Georgia Southern, 2 wins
Last meeting: Georgia Southern 88, South Alabama 86 OT (1/19/19)
USA's last win in series: 69-67 (12/31/17) in Mobile
USA's last win in Hanner Fieldhouse: 64-58 (1/7/16)
GSU's last win in Hanner Fieldhouse: 81-74 (3/1/18)
USA's record in Hanner Fieldhouse: 4-3
USA's road streak: Lost 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 2

Notes: The two schools met in a home-and-home series in 2010-11 and 2011-12, both Jaguar victories… The 2010-11 game was the first between the two schools since 1980… The first three games in Mobile took place in Jag Gym… USA won the first three games in Statesboro, taking all three games by an average of 13.3 points, putting up 81.0 points per game… The first five games in the series took place between Jan. 12, 1978 and Feb. 12, 1980… The Eagles swept the season series in 2014-15, earning their first-ever victory in Statesboro, then the Jags took all three in 2015-16, including a 67-61 win in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

OPENING TIP
In the last five games vs. Georgia Southern, two have gone into overtime (both losses).  Since the Eagles joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014-15, nine of the 10 games have been decided by single digits.

The Jaguars are 0-6 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.

Ten of South Alabama's 11 conference games have been decided by single-digits. The lone double-digit defeat was a 29-point loss at Little Rock.

USA's road record is 1-7, but GS's home record of 6-3 — 2-2 in league play — is ninth-best in the conference.

Little Rock shot just 4 for 24 (16.7%) from 3-point land Saturday, the second-lowest by a Sun Belt opponent this season. South Alabama's previous seven opponents shot a combined 42.6 percent on 9.4 treys per game. The Eagles rank 11th in the Sun Belt in 3-point percentage (.332) and 3-pointers per game (6.8).

Josh Ajayi kept his 19-game double-digit scoring streak alive Saturday with 10 points, his fewest during this run since Dec. 1. Despite his 3-for-10 performance, he still leads the conference in field-goal percentage (.559) and ranks third in rebounding (8.3 rpg).

Ajayi scored 26 points with 11 rebounds against Georgia Southern in January. He totaled 10 points in the previous two games against the Eagles.

After averaging 23.3 points over a four-game stretch, Trhae Mitchell has been held to 7 points in each of his last two outings, shooting 4 for 14 (28.6%) from the floor. The back-to-back single-digit games are his first since early December. He has been contributing in other areas, pulling down 9.5 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists against 2 turnovers in his last two games.

Rodrick Sikes paced the Jaguars Saturday with 19 points, his most since scoring 24 at Arkansas State on Jan. 10. He shot 4 for 8 from 3-point land and 7 for 8 from the free-throw line. He has led the team in scoring a team-high eight times this season.

In Sikes' first two games vs. Georgia Southern, he averaged 25.0 points, including 27 in Mobile, but had just four — a then-season low — against the Eagles on Jan. 19.

John Pettway tied his career high Saturday with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, and set a new personal best with 8 rebounds. In his last five games, he is averaging 13.7 points and shooting 68.1 percent from the field and 81.0 percent from the charity stripe.

Herb McGee, who had 10 points vs. Little Rock, has scored double-digit points five times in his last six games and is averaging 13.7 points in that span.

Georgia Southern is the only Sun Belt school with two players in the top 11 in scoring. Tookie Brown (17.7 ppg) is 10th and Quan Jackson (16.2 ppg) is 11th. They combined for 43 of the team's 88 points in Mobile.

Brown is averaging 19.1 ppg in his career vs. South Alabama. He has scored 20 points or more three times, including 26 in January.

QUOTES
Head coach Richie Riley
On facing Georgia Southern: "We've got a tough road swing; both Georgia schools are at or around the top of the league and they're fighting. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us coming off a loss. It's such a tight race that you're going to get everybody's best shot every night. There's so much parity in the league. There's so little separation throughout the standings and a team could be in last place with their record but beat a team in first – it's been happening all year. We're going in with the approach that we're going to have to find a way to win on the road. The last time we were able to get a win at ULM, which wasn't an easy thing to do. It won't be easy to go to Georgia Southern and find a way to win either, but we're going to have to play our best basketball there to put ourselves in a position to win the game."

On what's changed for John Pettway: "He's playing with a high-level of confidence and that comes through work. It's the only way you become confident in your ability when you step out there during the 40 minutes of a game – you have to put in the work behind the scenes. He's worked extremely hard in practice every single day. He's put in the extra work in the gym by himself and it's obvious with his play. I don't know where our team would be right now without the production he's given us in league play. I'm happy for him; he's such a special kid. He goes about his business the right way. I'm glad to see him get some payback because it doesn't always work out like that. Sometimes you can work as hard as you can and do all the right things and it doesn't always work out. He's certainly reaping the benefits of his hard work right now. He's playing at a high level on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. He's really impacting the game. Again, without him doing what he's doing, I don't know that we'd stay around in a lot of these games and go on that three-game win streak."

On defending Tookie Brown: "He's a really good guard, as good as there is in our league. He's explosive in transition. That's where he really hurt us last time. We couldn't get him leveled off; he was always playing downhill and we were always on our heels. He attacked us off the bounce. That's what he does, that's how they play and that's why they're one of the best scoring teams in the country. We've got to be better at getting guys back and getting the ball stopped in transition, and forcing him to score in 5-on-5 settings. That goes for the whole team; you have to force them to play 5-on-5 because they don't do it a whole lot. They get the ball out on makes fast. We have to sprint back, be in a stance, build a wall and keep them out of the paint, and force them to make tough, contested 2s and 3s."

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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