Game 26 • South Alabama Jaguars (12-14, 5-8) at Troy Trojans (11-14, 4-9)
February 23, 2019 • 4:15 p.m. • Trojan Arena (5,200) • Troy, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 12-14 (1st year)
Overall Record: 47-42 (3rd year)
Record vs. Troy: 1-0

Troy
Phil Cunningham (Campbellsville, 1990)
Record at Troy: 79-107 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama let a lead slip away in the second half at Georgia State, falling 90-81. Troy lost 76-51 at Georgia Southern.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars start their final homestand Thursday against UT Arlington. The Trojans host Texas State.

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

RANKINGS (through Feb. 20)
USA: #253 NET, #220 Sagarin
Troy: #237 NET, #224 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 22-11.

Current winning streak: USA, 1 win
Troy's last win in series: 69-62 (3/7/18)
Last meeting: South Alabama 81, Troy 75 (2/2/19)
USA's last win at Trojan Arena: 80-63 (2/3/18)
USA's record at Trojan Arena: 4-2
USA's record in Troy: 9-4
USA's road streak: Lost 1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 3

Notes: Troy had its school-record three game win streak vs. South Alabama snapped earlier this month... Despite the in-state rivals being separated by about 170 miles, the two schools have met just 33 times; all but two of the meetings came after Troy joined the Sun Belt in 2005... South Alabama won the two pre-Sun Belt clashes in 1993 and 1995... The Jaguars won the first five games in the series and seven of the first eight... A buzzer-beating shot gave USA a 69-67 victory in Mobile on Jan. 16, 2010... Freddie Goldstein set a new school record with nine 3-pointers in the 2011-12 season at Troy... The series is tied 2-2 in games played at the Sun Belt Tournament… Troy snapped a five-game skid in 2013-14 in Troy and a four-game slide in 2015-16 in Mobile.

OPENING TIP
The Feb. 2 meeting in Mobile marked the end of Troy's school-record three-game win streak in the series. South Alabama rallied from down 12 at halftime — its biggest halftime comeback of the year — to win 81-75.

Eleven of the Jaguars' 13 league games have been decided by single digits.

South Alabama is 5-4 this season when scoring 80 points or more, and 0-6 when allowing 80-plus. In four games this season, the Jags have allowed at least 80 points when scoring 80 or more.

Two more 3-pointers will give the Jags 223 on the season, which would tie for fifth in school history.

USA's 21 assists at Georgia State tied its most in Sun Belt games, and the team's 21 assists on 24 field goals is its best ratio since Jan. 18, 1999. Herb McGee (8), Trhae Mitchell (6) and John Pettway (5) all had 5 assists or more.

Despite committing 18 turnovers, the Jaguars still posted a positive assist/turnover ratio for the first time in three games and 13th time this season, which is their most since 2008-09.

The Jags are fourth in the Sun Belt in both assists (14.3 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1).

South Alabama scored a season-high 53 points in the first half at Georgia State behind 12 3-pointers in 19 attempts. The team's first-half 3-point percentage (.632) was better than its 2-point percentage (.455). The second half was a different story as the Jags shot 29.2 percent overall and 15.4 percent from deep.

For the game, the Jaguars converted 14 times from behind the 3-point arc to tie its season high and rank in a tie for sixth in school history.

In addition to his game-high 8 assists, McGee set a new career best with 26 points. He nailed five 3-pointers — all in the first half — and went 9 for 10 at the free-throw line.

In McGee's last two games, he is averaging 22.0 points, and shooting 12 for 24 from the floor, 8 for 17 from distance and 12 for 13 from the charity stripe. He has hit the 18-point mark three times in his last four games.

Rodrick Sikes came off the bench Saturday to pour in 14 points. He nailed three 3-pointers to move into seventh by himself at South Alabama in career 3s (148). He is five 3s away from sixth, and one attempt away from tying for sixth and four attempts from fifth in school history.

Sikes has alternated scoring 18 and 12 points in four games vs. Troy. He had 12 against the Trojans on Feb. 2.

Josh Ajayi scored 9 points at Georgia State, breaking his streak of 20 straight games with double-digit points dating back to Nov. 19.

Ajayi managed to grab 5 rebounds to move into a tie for 10th at South Alabama in career rebounds with 577. He currently has 399 career field goals, 15th-best at USA and four away from Eugene Oliver in 14th.

Kory Holden went 7 for 12 from 3-point land to average 10.5 ppg last week. His last 19 field goals have all been from behind the arc, and he leads the team with a .469 3-point percentage.

R.J. Kelly's 11 points at GSU tied his second-most of the season and was his most since also scoring 11 on Nov. 23 at Texas A&M.

Troy's leading scorer, Jordon Varnado, has not played since Feb. 2 at South Alabama.

PREVIEWING SATURDAY
Head coach Richie Riley on Troy
On facing Troy: "I have a great appreciation with our rivalry with Troy. Our fan base, players and staff love this game. In my short time here, I've grown to understand how important it is. Motivation for a game like this isn't as big – everybody's motivated. They're going to be motivated to get us back for us winning last time and our kids will be motivated to complete the sweep. Emotions are high in games like this so I'm excited about that. We did a lot of really good things in the second half when we played them here. The first half, we didn't play well, but in the second half we were tremendous; it might be the best second half of basketball we've played all season. We have to replicate that for more than one half if we're going to win on the road."

On how they used the week off: "We have a group that's pretty resilient in the fact that they don't get too down after losses, which is good and bad. We had a good week of preparation. When you have a whole week in between games, it gives you an opportunity to work on yourself and we needed that. We needed to improve in areas and not worry about Troy as much. At the end of the week, our preparation has ramped up to Troy and preparing for them. It's been a difficult prep in some ways because they've had (Jordon) Varnado out since we've played them, and obviously he's their guy. He's the focal point of what they do offensively. We expect him to be back; we don't know that but we expect him to be back. I like our preparation and I'm excited to go in there."

On how Troy has changed with Varnado out: "Some of their other guys have had to step up, and they have. Javan Johnson has been really scoring the ball at a high level and he's capable of doing that. Sometimes when you lose your leading scorer, it gives other guys a chance to showcase what they can do and he's certainly done that. They have really good players. He's obviously the headliner but they have really good players across the board. They've done a nice job recruiting. Coach (Phil) Cunningham has been there through a few recruiting cycles so he has his guys in there. With or without Varnado, they're going to come out there, have a good product on the court and be ready to compete."

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