MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team scored 21 unanswered points spanning halftime and had four players in double-figure points in a 77-63 win over Texas State Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

Junior Josh Ajayi recorded 20 points and Rodrick Sikes added 18 on five 3-pointers. Graduate Kory Holden and junior Herb McGee tallied 15 points each.

The Jaguars trailed by three with 3:28 left before finishing the first half with seven unanswered points. The Bobcats missed their first eight shots and had five turnovers after intermission while the Jags went 5 for 6 for 14 points, with Ajayi, Sikes and Holden combining for all 14.

Texas State went on a 14-2 run late to get within 10 with a minute left but missed its final four shots while McGee went 4 for 4 at the foul line.

GAME FACTS
- Neither team led by more than four points in the entire first half; Texas State took a 10-6 lead with 15:54 left and South Alabama went up 35-31 seconds before halftime
- Holden accounted for five of the Jags' last seven points of the half, including a pull-up jumper with two seconds left
- Holden continued the run with a 3-pointer 33 seconds after intermission to start the 14 straight points in a four-minute span
- After a Sikes layup off a McGee steal, Ajayi converted a 3-point play to give the Jaguars a double-digit lead (12) for the first time
- Sikes scored the next four points and Ajayi capped off the run with a fast-break layup
- Tre'Larenz Nottingham snapped the streak with two free throws but Sikes countered with another triple, and a Holden trey marked the end of a 27-3 Jaguar scoring burst
- The Jaguars led by as many as 22 late in the contest before the Bobcats scored 14 of the next 16 points to close to 73-63 with 1:13 left
- Texas State had a chance to get to single digits but went 0 for 4 the rest of the way and McGee finished it off at the free-throw line
- Alex Peacock led the Bobcats with 20 points and Nottingham added 16

NOTES
- South Alabama's 70.0 first-half field-goal percentage and 62.8 overall field-goal percentage is its highest since Feb. 14, 2009; the Jags hit the 60-percent mark for the first time since Jan. 8, 2015
- The Jaguars are 12-6 at home this season; the 12 wins are the program's most in the Mitchell Center since 2007-08
- Sikes scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half
- The Jaguars went 10 for 17 (58.8%) from 3-point land
- Ajayi made his first seven shots and Holden made his first six shots from the floor; Ajayi finished 8 for 9 and Holden went 6 for 7 (3 for 4 from 3)
- Junior Trhae Mitchell tallied game-high totals of 9 rebounds and 3 blocks
- Sikes moved into sixth at South Alabama in career 3-pointers (157), and Ajayi jumped to ninth in career rebounds (595)
- South Alabama has 243 3-pointers as a team this season, fourth-most in school history
- Ajayi is averaging 18.7 points in his last three games
- Texas State's leading scorer, Nijal Pearson, was held to 1 point on 0-for-8 shooting
- The Bobcats entered the game with the Sun Belt's best scoring (63.2 ppg), field-goal (.402) and 3-point (.293) defense; the Jags' 77 points are their most in the 10-game series

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
Opening statement: "Everything we talked about after Thursday's game going into Friday's film session, they responded. I'm just proud of them, it's been a hard year — especially for our two seniors with injuries, and ups and downs — but tonight they really shined; both of those guys played so well defensively and their shot when in, they just played with a passion that I hadn't seen in a long time. I'm so happy for them to be able to have this Senior Night be a special night for them with their play. Beating the No. 1 team in the league was just icing on the cake for them."

On the team's 21-0 run that began late in the first half: "We made some adjustments at halftime with some things that were bothering us in the zone, our guys locked in and came out and made those adjustments. We were able to turn them over some and get them to take some rushed shots, and we got out in transition. It built energy, you could feel the energy in the building and our guys fed off of it."

On the team's effort: "That's the hardest some of our guys have played all year. They wanted this game for the seniors, but also I felt like this was one of the first times our kids really hurt after we met [after the loss on Thursday] and talked about some things and I was really honest with them; they responded the right way. They wanted to show they changed, they looked at me before the game and said, 'Coach, I got your back.' One thing I told them after Thursday night was that I'm out here fighting and nobody has got my back, and they showed they did tonight with their play, their passion and energy. I'm a proud coach tonight."

On the team's 3-point shooting in the game: "I'm a big believer in if you play extremely hard defensively and you give everything you have to make winning plays then the ball goes in a lot more. Tonight, our guys who shoot the three were also playing hard defensively, getting deflections and giving everything they had on that end. The game of basketball gives back to you; when you do the right things and then you get an open three most of the time it goes in. They did those things tonight and we really shot the ball at a high level."

On playing the same way next week on the road to end the regular season: "Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State are really good teams. That's the thing about this league, everybody is good, every team is so close. We won our last road game at Troy, so we are going to try and build some momentum off that. We are still fighting to get into the tournament and for seeding in the tournament, so we have to go down there and play with the same edge that we did just now. I told the guys they need to have this mentality every night. I know the guys wanted to play hard for those two seniors because they love them, but they need to want to play hard to extend their season as long as they can because this is their last time playing college basketball. You need to have that approach every night because we're at the end, any game could be their last as you get into tournament play. We have to have that same edge and take it on the road."

UP NEXT
South Alabama opens the final week of the regular season on the road Thursday at Coastal Carolina. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CST.

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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