Game 32 • #9 Arkansas State Red Wolves (13-18, 7-11) at #8 South Alabama Jaguars (15-16, 8-10)
March 12, 2019 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala. • Sun Belt Tournament First Round

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 15-16 (1st year)
Overall Record: 50-44 (3rd year)
Record vs. A-State: 1-1

Arkansas State
Mike Balado (St. Thomas, 1998)
Record at A-State: 24-39 (2nd year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama got 26 points from Josh Ajayi in a 78-71 win over Appalachian State. Arkansas State lost at home in overtime to Louisiana, 90-87.

NEXT GAME
The winner will face No. 5 seed Louisiana on Thursday at 5 p.m.

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 (through March 10)
USA: #237 NET, #210 Sagarin
A-State: #248 NET, #242 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Arkansas State leads 26-21.

Current streak: South Alabama, 1 win
A-State's last win in the series: 66-65 (1/10/19)
Last meeting: South Alabama 70, Arkansas State 62 (2/7/19)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 70-62 (2/7/19)
A-State's last win the Mitchell Center: 89-67 (1/2/16)
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 9-7
USA's record in Mobile: 16-8
USA's home streak: Won 3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 5

Notes: South Alabama had a five-game win streak over A-State snapped in 2009-10 in Mobile, then ended a five-game Arkansas State streak in 2014-15 in Jonesboro… The Red Wolves had won the previous four meetings prior to USA's five-game streak and have won 10 of the last 15 against the Jaguars… Ken Williams hit a shot with 0.8 seconds left to win 73-70 in 2017-18… Arkansas State is 5-0 in games decided in overtime… The series dates back to the 1970-71 season… The Jags have scored more than 90 points just once in 44 games (91-78, 12/28/06).

OPENING TIP
Dating back to the 2006-07 season, in the last six times South Alabama has faced a team in the Sun Belt Tournament after splitting the regular-season series, the Jaguars are 1-5. The lone win came against Florida Atlantic in 2009-10. The losses were to Middle Tennessee (2006-07, 2007-08), Troy (2009-10), Western Kentucky (2012-13) and Louisiana (2015-16).

The Jaguars are 7-3 all-time in Sun Belt Tournament games played on its home floor, including 4-2 in the Mitchell Center. The last tournament contest played in Mobile was in 2009, a 62-60 win over New Orleans.

A-State and USA have met just twice in Sun Belt Tournament play, with Arkansas State picking up an overtime win in 1995 in Little Rock, and South Alabama returning the favor at home in 2001.

USA has won 15 games in a season for the first time since 2012-13.

The Jaguars converted 63.6 percent from the floor in the second half on Saturday, marking the sixth time this season the team had shot 60 percent or better in a half. Five of those occasions happened in the second half and only once did the team lose (at Georgia Southern).

USA shot 54.5 percent for the game vs. App State, the team's 11th at 50 percent or better this season. That's the most by the program since the 2008-09 team did so 13 times.

Josh Ajayi and Trhae Mitchell represented South Alabama on the all-Sun Belt teams released Monday. Ajayi was named to the second team and Mitchell was named to the third. It is the first time the men's basketball program has had two all-conference honorees since 2008-09.

Ajayi led all scorers Saturday with a season-high-tying 26 points. He shot 10 for 15 from the floor  and 5 for 6 from the foul line. It was his team-best ninth 20-point game of the season.

Ajayi moved into 12th place at South Alabama is career field goals with 436. He is 18 away from 11th.

Ajayi grabbed four rebounds for the third straight game at App State, and in doing so, became the eighth player in school history to record 600 rebounds in a career. He enters Tuesday's game with 603 boards.

Mitchell posted his eighth double-double of the season Saturday with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The eight double-doubles is tied for third in the SBC behind Louisiana's JaKeenan Gant (12) and Ajayi (10).

Mitchell had just one assist vs. App State, but it moved him closer to 17th in South Alabama's history with 223. He needs one to tie Darrell Faulkner (1985-87) for 17th and two to tie Terrance Brodnick (1987-89) in 16th. Mitchell is just the second player in school history to have 215 rebounds and 100 assists in a season.

Herb McGee joined Mitchell in the double-double club with 12 points and a personal-best 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end. It was McGee's first career double-double and it was the fourth time this season two Jaguars had a double-double in the same game; the first three came from Mitchell and Ajayi.

McGee finished just three assists shy of a triple-double with seven and had only one turnover. He is averaging 6.0 assists in his last two games.

Rodrick Sikes scored 32 and 24 points in his first two career games vs. A-State but had just seven his last time out in Mobile. He is 31 points away from 1,000 for his career at South Alabama.

Arkansas State's Ty Cockfield II is averaging 19.0 points against the Jags this season. The conference's reigning player of the week scored 22 points — 12 from the free-throw line — in Jonesboro, but was held to 4-for-14 shooting in Mobile.

QUOTES
Head coach Richie Riley on Arkansas State
On Tuesday's game: "It's a great opportunity for us. This year the format is different; there are two teams that don't get to go. It was tight all season long. A lot of teams were close and we were able to finish strong down the stretch and have an opportunity to host a game, which is big. We get to play in front of our home crowd and have a chance to advance to New Orleans. It's win-or-go-home time and it's the best part of the season. When March gets here, it's time to ramp up your play. Hopefully we can do that starting Tuesday night."

On playing Arkansas State a third time: "I think both teams are familiar with each other, having played twice. We had a battle at their place and lost by one, then here we won by eight and it was tight down the stretch. They have a good team. In this league there's so much parity. Any night, whether you're at home or on the road, it's going to be tough. Our kids know that. We've been through so many battles and two- or three-possession games – some we've won and some we've lost. Tuesday night, it's probably going to come down to the last five minutes and who can execute the best, who's the toughest and who wants to win the most."

On getting the win on Saturday: "I was proud of our effort. We found a way to bounce back from a poor performance on Thursday and win on the road in an important game. If we don't win that game, I don't think we were going to get to host. Our kids knew that going in and played with an urgency and beat a team on its senior day, which is hard to do. We have to carry that momentum. We had some really good individual performances but we also had a whole team effort. We have to use that momentum Tuesday night to try and find a way to win."

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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