Game 7 • South Alabama (4-2) at Southern Miss (1-2)
December 12, 2020 • 2 p.m. • Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) • Hattiesburg, Miss.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 41-30 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 76-58 (5th year)
Record vs. Southern Miss: 1-1

Southern Miss
Jay Ladner (Southern Miss, 1988)
Record at Southern Miss: 10-24 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 86-112 (7th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama defeated William Carey 80-67, Tuesday evening in the Mitchell Center. Southern Miss fell to Tulane 58-38, Wednesday night at the Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans.

NEXT GAME
South will return home to face Flagler (Fla.) Wednesday at 6 p.m., in the Mitchell Center. USM will go to Beaumont, Texas, to face Lamar, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5: J.D. Byars (pxp)
Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio)
CUSA.tv (Internet Streaming): John Cox (pxp)

RANKINGS
USA: #169 NET*, #171 Sagarin
USM: #290 NET*, #290 Sagarin
*NET reflects the end of last season

THE SERIES
One of USA's longest series, the Jaguars trail Southern Miss, 18-26, in the overall series.  The Golden Eagles have win streaks of six and eight games. The Jaguars have a streak of six and in the last four meetings South has claimed three victories to one. The teams have never met on a neutral court and USA has an 8-14 record in Hattiesburg, Miss.

NOTES
South led wire-to-wire against the Crusaders of William Carey, but the visitors kept the game competitive, with the final score reading 80-67 in favor of USA Tuesday night in the Mitchell Center. For the sixth consecutive game, Michael Flowers led the Jaguars in scoring with a game-high 26 points. Sam Iorio dropped 19 points on 6-of-13 from the field in his first start since his injury in the second game this season. Tyreke Locure set a new career high with seven assists while also pocketing 13 points. David Walker notched 14 points in his first start wearing a Jaguar uniform.

Southern Miss struggled shooting against Tulane Wednesday converting 5-of-27 from the field in the first half for 12 points. While the Golden Eagles improved in the second half, the undefeated Green Wave claimed a 20-point victory, 58-38. USM was led by Jaron Pierre Jr., who scored 11 points in 21 minutes off the bench.  LeDavius Draine registered 10 points as the only starter to reach double figures. Jay Malone collected nine rebounds.

William Carey came into Mobile having lost to Southern Miss in an exhibition game, 80-53, on Dec. 2. Despite trailing from start to finish, the Crusaders kept South within reach chipping the advantage down to five with 8:52 left in the contest. WCU closed the gap to six with just three minutes 15 seconds left, but South would gain the upper hand with five Jags sinking 10-of-10 free throws in the final 151 seconds.

South charged out of the gates against the Crusaders shooting 15-of-26 from the field for 42 first-half points, the second highest total scored by the Jaguars this season. The shooting percentage (.576) was also the second highest recorded in the first half this year.

Flowers recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season against the Crusaders with 26 points. Each performance has come in back-to-back games starting with the first two games and ending with the two most recent contests. The senior's scoring average, 22.7, is now the highest of the season.

Locure's seven assists are a team high on the year, topping Flowers' six against Jacksonville State. The amount was the highest a Jaguar has recorded since Herb McGee matched the total against Appalachian State on March 9, 2019.

Iorio made his third start for South, scoring 19 points against the Crusaders. Excluding the Mobile game when Iorio was forced to depart the court after one minute and 50 seconds, Iorio is averaging 17.5 points per game when starting on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. In all contests, the junior is nine of 10 from the charity stripe, six for 13 from beyond the arc.

Walker had his first appearance in the starting lineup for South with 33 minutes on the court and a season high five rebounds. It was the third game in a row that Walker scored in double-digits (14). Over the last three games, the junior is averaging 30 minutes per game on the court with his season high, 33, coming last game.

Goncalves is one of two Jags to take more than 30 three-pointer attempts this year, and has the second highest accuracy on the squad with .457 shooting percentage from behind the arc. The highest percentage on the club, Flowers with .474, has also taken more than 30 attempts with Iorio separating the pair with 46.2 percent on 6-of-13 from deep. Walker and Locure are the only other players with attempts from beyond the arc, and both are around 30 percent shooters (.310 and .294).

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