Game 23 • Georgia State Panthers (14-7, 7-3) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (12-10, 5-6)
January 30, 2020 • 6 p.m. CST • GSU Sports Arena (3,854) • Atlanta, Ga.

THE COACHES
South Alabama    
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 29-27 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 64-55 (4th year)
Record vs. Ga. State: 0-3

Georgia State    
Rob Lanier (St. Bonaventure, 1990)
Record at GSU: 14-7 (1st year)
Overall Record: 61-71 (5th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama trailed back as much as 11 points in the final period of play, but came up short falling to conference leader Little Rock Saturday night in Mobile, while Georgia State rallied back from a 14-point second-half deficit at in-state and Sun Belt rival Georgia Southern.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars will continue its current three-game road stretch on Saturday at Georgia Southern. Georgia State will take on Troy in Atlanta.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; Steve Goldberg (pxp)

RANKINGS (ratings through Jan. 29)
USA: #178 NET, #166 Sagarin
GSU: #108 NET, #102 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Georgia State leads 16-15

Current streak: Georgia State, 4 wins
South Alabama's last win in the series: 86-64 (12/29/17)
Last meeting: Georgia State 72, South Alabama 63 (1/16/20)
USA's last win at the GSU Sports Arena: 75-50 (1/29/82)
GSU's last win at the GSU Sports Arena: 90-81 (2/15/19)
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 10 / 6

Notes: Georgia State holds a narrow 16-15 lead in the series … The home team has held an advantage in those meetings as both clubs hold nine series wins on its home floor … Georgia State has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with South's only two wins during that stretch coming on its home floor during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons … The Panthers have won eight-straight in the series on their home floor … The winning team has won by double figures in three of the last five meetings … The series dates back to the 1975-76 season … Of the 31 series meetings, 21 have come in Sun Belt Conference play as Georgia State has served two different stints as a league member.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama begins the three-game road trip after falling 73-71 to Little Rock on Saturday in Mobile.  Four Jaguars finished in double figures in scoring in the game, led by Josh Ajayi, Herb McGee and Trhae Mitchell, who each finished with 17 points.

Little Rock finished with 12 three pointers, which marked the fourth consecutive game Jaguar opponents have made 10 or more threes.

After picking up the first meeting between the two clubs this season, Georgia State holds a narrow 16-15 advantage in the all-time series.

The Panthers enter the game sitting in second place in the league as they have won seven of their 10 Sun Belt games this season, including four of their last five.

With his 17 points, Josh Ajayi recorded his seventh straight games with double figures. He has recorded eight games of 20 or more points this season and his seven double-doubles rank second in the conference. Four of his seven double-doubles have come against league competition. Ajayi sits one double-double shy of moving into a tie for third (Virgil Stanescu, 27) as he has 26 for his career and seven this season.

The 6-foot-6 forward leads the Sun Belt in field-goal percentage (.580), is fourth in scoring (15.9) and ranks second in rebounding (8.0).
With four more rebounds, Ajayi (791) will become just the third Jaguar to ever eclipse the 800-rebound mark, joining Augustine Rubit (1,183) and Terry Catledge (932).

For the 10th-straight game, South Alabama outscored its opponent in the paint holding a 26-22 advantage over the Trojans in that category. Since the Mobile (Dec. 28), the Jaguars have a combined total of 316-172. Over that stretch South is averaging 31.6 ppg and holding opponents to 17.2 ppg in the paint.  

With the 17-point effort, McGee has scored either set or tied a season high in points and scored double figures in three-straight games.

Chad Lott's 15 double-digit scoring games rank second on the Jag roster. He is 14th in the SBC in scoring (13.3) and second in field-goal percentage (.556).

The 17 points recorded by Mitchell were a season-best for the senior forward as he connected on five of his seven shoot attempts, including both of his 3-pointers, while also going 5 for 5 at the foul line. In his previous five games, Mitchell had connected on just 11 of his shot attempts and 32 percent of his attempts.

Georgia State ranks first in the league in scoring (79.2), scoring margin (+9.0), field-goal percentage defense (.390), 3-point field-goal percentage (.390), 3-pointers per game (9.0), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.275), assists (15.0) and steals (9.0), while the Panthers are second in blocks (4.3).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give.

—USA—