Game 24 • Georgia Southern Eagles (13-9, 7-4) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (12-11, 5-7)
February 1, 2020 • 3 p.m. CST • Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) • Statesboro, Ga.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 29-28 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 64-56 (4th year)
Record vs. GS: 1-2
Georgia Southern
Mark Byington (UNC Wilmington, 1998)
Record at GS: 124-41 (7th year)
Overall Record: 131-45 (7th year)
* Was interim head coach at College of Charleston for 11 gms.
LAST GAME
South Alabama fell, 76-73 late at Georgia State Thursday night, while Georgia Southern cruised past Troy, 86-57 in Statesboro.
NEXT GAME
The Jaguars close out its three-game road stretch next Friday at conference and in-state rival Troy. Georgia Southern will travel to ULM on Thursday.
ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; Steve Goldberg (pxp)
RANKINGS (ratings through Jan. 30)
USA: #176 NET, #164 Sagarin
GS: #162 NET, #151 Sagarin
THE SERIES
USA leads 12-7
Current streak: South Alabama, 1 win
Last meeting: South Alabama 74, Georgia Southern 68 (1/18/20)
Georgia Southern's last win in the series: 75-65 (2/13/19)
USA's last win at Hanner Fieldhouse: 64-58 (1/16/17)
USA's at Hanner Fieldhouse: Series tied 4-4
GS's current home win streak in the series: 3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 3
Notes: South Alabama has taken 12 of the 19 meetings in the series, and snapped a 3-game win streak by Georgia Southern earlier this season with a six-point win in Mobile. … Since joining the league, the Eagles have won six of the 11 regular-season meetings … The home team has won seven of the last eight regular-season meetings in the series dating back to the 2015-16 season … 11 of the last 13 series meetings have been decided by eight points or less with two going into overtime … The series dates back to the 1977-78 season.
OPENING TIP
South Alabama concludes its three-game road trip after falling 76-73 at Georgia State on Thursday night.
The Jaguars held a three-point advantage heading into the final minute of play, but the Panthers reeled off a 6-0 run over the final 60 seconds to pick up the victory.
The loss marked the first time this season that the Jaguars have lost three-straight games; however, all three of those losses have been by a combined total of 10 points, including a pair of three-point losses.
Andre Fox came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points for his fifth 20-point outing of the season.
South holds a 12-7 advantage in the series and snapped a three-game skid versus the Eagles as the Jaguars rallied back from a 10-point second-half deficit to pick up a 70-64 win in Mobile back on Jan. 18.
Josh Ajayi comes into the contest having posted eight-straight double figure games. Since being held to 2 points at Chattanooga on Nov. 15, he has finished in double figures 16 times.
Ajayi 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 (.578), is fourth in scoring (15.8) and ranks second in rebounding (7.9).
With his six rebounds on Thursday night, Ajayi (802) became just the third Jaguar to eclipse the 800-rebound mark for his career, joining Augustine Rubit (1,183) and Terry Catledge (932).
South had its string of 10-straight games outscoring its opponent in the paint snapped as the Jags and the Panthers each had 22 points in that category. Despite the streak ending, the Jaguars have outscored opponents a combined total of 338-194 since the Mobile game (Dec. 28). Over that 11-game stretch South is averaging 30.7 ppg and holding opponents to 17.6 ppg in the paint.
Chad Lott is 16th in the SBC in scoring (13.0) and second in field-goal percentage (.552).
Tyreke Locure started in place of John Pettway (injury) against the Panthers and in his fifth start of the season, the freshman guard dropped in 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action.
Georgia Southern enters the weekend sitting in third-place in the league standings. The Eagles have won nine of their 10 contests this season at Hanner Fieldhouse, including a 29-point win over Troy in their last outing.
All five starters are averaging double figures led by Ike Smith's 14.0 points per game. As a team, the Eagles lead the league in blocks (4.5), turnover margin (+3.86) and 3-pointers per game (8.9), while they are third in the Sun Belt in scoring (76.5), scoring margin (+5.7) and steals (8.2).
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).
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—
