Game 17 • Arkansas State Red Wolves (11-5, 3-2) at South Alabama Jaguars (9-7, 2-3)
January 9, 2020 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama    Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
    Record at USA: 26-24 (2nd year)
    Overall Record: 61-52 (4th year)
    Record vs. A-State: 2-1

Arkansas State    Mike Balado (St. Thomas, 1998)
    Record at A-State: 34-45 (3rd year)
    Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama never trailed in a 66-54 victory at UT Arlington. Arkansas State rallied from 14 points down in the second half to defeat Georgia State 90-87.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars go back out on the road to face Little Rock Saturday. The Red Wolves host Troy.

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 (ratings through Jan. 7)
USA: #199 NET, #181 Sagarin
A-State: #198 NET, #201 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Arkansas State leads 26-22.

Current streak: South Alabama, 2 wins
A-State's last win in the series: 66-65 (1/10/19)
Last meeting: South Alabama 75, Arkansas State 67 (3/12/19)
USA's last win at the Mitchell Center: 75-67 (3/12/19)
A-State's last win the Mitchell Center: 89-67 (1/2/16)
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 10-7
USA's record in Mobile: 17-8
USA's home streak: Won 4
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… 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
South Alabama has won four of the last five in the series with Arkansas State. This follows a stretch where the Red Wolves went 10-2 against the Jaguars over a seven-year stretch.

On Monday, USA won for the second time this season — both in the last three games — when scoring fewer than 70 points. Under head coach Richie Riley, the Jags are just 4-16 when failing to hit the 70-point mark.

The win Monday came thanks to a stellar defensive effort that saw UT Arlington score just 54 points, the fewest allowed to a Division I opponent this season.
UTA tallied 22 points and shot 26.9% in the first half alone, also season lows by Division I opposition.

The defensive performance comes one game after allowing ULM to shoot 15 for 32 from long range, including 11 for 21 from Michael Ertel alone.

USA improved to 7-0 this season when shooting 50% overall, 8-0 when outshooting its opponent, and 8-1 when tying or outrebounding its opponent.

After a three-game stretch (1-2 record) that saw opponents average 45.3 points in the paint, the Jags are allowing just 14.0 paint points in the four games since (3-1 record). Against the Mavericks, the Jaguars won the paint battle 34-14.

USA converted 12 of 17 at the free-throw line at UTA to lower their season percentage to .747, but that still leads the Sun Belt and is third-best in school history.

Andre Fox went 4 for 4 at the line Monday to increase his average to .868, which is best in the league.

Josh Ajayi recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 14 points and 13 rebounds at UTA. The 13 rebounds tied his season high, and all came on the defensive end. The 13 defensive boards are tied for third-most by a Jaguar since 1988, and no USA player has ever had 13 or more defensive rebounds without grabbed an offensive board in that same time span.

South Alabama is 5-0 this season when Ajayi records a double-double, and 4-0 when he scores 20-plus points.
Ajayi moved up the career ladder in three categories Monday night. He moved past Andy Denny for eighth at USA in career field goals (539), Ken Williams for sixth in career free throws made (367) and Rory White for third in school history in career rebounds (744). Ajayi is one free throw away from tying Kent Carson for fifth in school history.

Chad Lott led all scorers Monday with 20 points to tie his season high. He had 13 in the first half alone, including 10 in the first seven minutes. Lott shot 8 for 13 from the floor to maintain his conference lead in field-goal percentage (.590).

John Pettway set a new season high Monday with 10 points, his most since recording 10 at Troy last February.. He entered the game with 13 points total.

Arkansas State comes into Thursday's game ranked 11th in the league in scoring (69.4) and does not have a single player listed in the Sun Belt's top 20 in scoring. Caleb Fields leads the team at 11.9 ppg.

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
 
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