TROY, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team held Troy to 31 percent shooting in the second half and got a double-double from junior Trhae Mitchell in a 68-52 victory at Troy Saturday afternoon.

The Jaguar defense forced misses on 18 of the Trojans' first 20 shots after halftime, while USA shot 50.0 percent on the other end.

South Alabama ended the first half on an 11-2 run to lead by 10 at the break, then got a 15-3 burst early in the second half to go up 49-29. In a 58-second span starting at the 7:58 mark, the Jaguars scored seven unanswered to take a 25-point lead.

Mitchell finished with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, and junior Josh Ajayi paced the Jags with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Troy's Alex Hicks posted a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds.

GAME FACTS
- Down one at the 13:31 mark of the first half, the Jaguars reeled off 10 straight points to take a 21-12 advantage
- The Trojans answered with eight straight of their own, but the Jags came back with 11 in a row and led 32-22 at intermission
- Following two free throws from Hicks, Ajayi dunked home two points to start South Alabama's 15-3 run; Ajayi and Mitchell combined for the first eight points and senior Rodrick Sikes capped it off with a triple
- Troy went over nine minutes without a field goal and was 2 for 20 from the floor until the 5:36 mark
- The Trojans outscored the Jaguars 19-10 in the last 6:36
- Mitchell also added a game-high 5 assists and blocked a shot and was credited with a steal
- Sikes came off the bench to tally 11 points – all in the second half – and sophomore John Pettway tallied 10 and three steals

NOTES
- Tonight was South Alabama's largest win in the series since Feb. 10, 2008; the previous 10 Jaguar wins over the Trojans were by single digits
- Tonight was USA's biggest win on the road since a 78-55 victory at Southern Miss on Nov. 30, 2016
- Mitchell has seven double-doubles and eight double-digit rebounding performances this season
- USA is now 2-10 this year – 1-5 in the Sun Belt – when scoring fewer than 70 points
- Sikes is now fifth in school history in career 3-point attempts (432)
- The Jaguars have hit 226 times from 3-point land this season, fifth-most in school history
- Troy's 22 points in the first half ties a season low by a Jaguar opponent
- Ajayi recorded his 400th career field goal and finished the contest with 406, 14th at South Alabama

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "I'm just so proud of our guys. I say that a lot, but I mean it. We coach our guys hard and we work really hard, so we deserve nights like tonight and we don't always get the payoff. I put these guys in a challenging spot because we're sitting four guys out and they've done their best to respond. Tonight it paid off. You play your rival and get to win like we did tonight, it's a great night. I mean this with all my heart: I'm blessed to be the head coach of South Alabama. I get reminded in games like this because of the importance of this game to our fan base. I love every second of it. It was just a great team win. I thought everybody that played tonight impacted winning and I'm probably most proud of that."

On South Alabama's second half defense: "We had a great plan defensively. Our rotations were really good, our bumps were good in our zone and our activity was good. It made them take a lot of tough 2s and it got them in late shot-clock situations where they had to take tough shots. Early in the second half, we were able to defensive rebound and get out in transition. Our activity level was great and we had an urgency to get stops. Getting three stops in a row is a goal for us. I don't know what the total number was tonight but we did it a lot. That's ultimately why we won the game. Defensively we played as well as we've played all year."

On Josh Ajayi and Trhae Mitchell: "When those guys play like they do tonight, we're a good team. The last four games, they haven't played like that. They haven't had the concentration or aggressiveness, but tonight they did. I give them all the credit in the world for finding a way to bounce back. We had a week of practice without playing and we practiced hard. We talked a lot about what we weren't doing well and what was stopping us from winning those close games. Those two guys responded. I tell them that we have to have them playing at a high level to win. We only have 10 active guys and they're playing the bulk of the minutes. They showed up tonight and the rest of their brothers did too. When we play like that we have a chance to be right there with anybody."

UP NEXT
South Alabama returns home to take on UT Arlington Thursday at 7 p.m.

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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