Game 9 • South Alabama (6-2) at Alabama A&M (1-0)
December 19, 2020 • 2 p.m. • Elmore Gymnasium (6,000) • Huntsville, Ala.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 43-30 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 78-58 (5th year)
Record vs. Alabama A&M: 2-0
Alabama A&M
Dylan Howard (UAB, 1989)
Record at Alabama A&M: 14-49 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 98-171 (11th year)
LAST GAME
South hit triple digits in a victory over Flagler, 103-81, Wednesday night in the Mitchell Center. Alabama A&M defeated Samford, 78-76, Sunday Nov. 29, at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Ala. AAMU has had two games canceled since that contest.
NEXT GAME
USA will open the conference schedule on the road against Georgia Southern at Statesboro, Ga., with a pair of games on back-to-back days, Jan. 1 and Jan 2, tipoff times set for 5 and 2 p.m. (CST) (6, 3 p.m. local). The Bulldogs open their conference schedule at home with Jackson State on Jan. 2; that game does not have a start time yet.
ON THE AIR
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5:
J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Joe McNulty (color)
Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUlbshyTuRJNJdfKEk9CSQ?view_as=subscriber (video stream)
Live Stats: https://aamusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
RANKINGS
USA: #169 NET*, #222 Sagarin
Alabama A&M:Â No rankings
*NET reflects the end of last season
THE SERIES
South Alabama is undefeated against the Bulldogs with all five meetings taking place in Mobile, Ala., with the first game taking place inside Jaguar Gymnasium and the following four in the Mitchell Center.
NOTES
Coming off the first triple-digit performance in over two years and a three-game win streak, South Alabama is headed north to Huntsville, Ala., for its final out of conference game with its offense in rhythm. Over the last five games, the Jaguars have averaged 85.2 points with 81 against Auburn and 76 against Southern Miss.
The Bulldogs have had a scheduled deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic as games with Ohio State and North Alabama were canceled over the last two weeks. Basketball operations restarted for Alabama A&M Thursday in preparation for Saturday's contest. The one contest AAMU partook in was a two-point win over Samford, 78-76, Sunday Nov. 29. For reference, South has since played five games in the 20-day span.
In the first meeting on the court with Flagler, South Alabama put up season highs in scoring, first-half scoring, field goals, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage.
USA was ranked 11th in three-point field goals made in the NCAA following the game with Flagler (Fla.), and is at 13th in three-point shooting percentage. Both marks are tops in the Sun Belt.
Individually, Tyreke Locure set a new career high in scoring with 22 points. In his second career game scoring, the New Orleans native was the game-high scorer for the first time following his first team-high performance against Southern Miss in the previous game. The sophomore had four rebounds and two assists.
John Pettway led the game and tied a career high assists with seven. He also led the game with four steals and continued to be an efficient shooter scoring 14 points and after missing his first shot making the following six from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. The redshirt senior is shooting .698 (37-53) on the season, but does not qualify for national rankings due to not meeting the minimum five field goals made per game. That percentage would rank 18th in the NCAA if it qualified.
Michael Flowers dropped 18 points, giving him double-digit points in seven of the eight games played this year. The Western Michigan transfer dished out four assists with five rebounds and a steal.
South Alabama has still not had a double-double, but a lot of performances have been on the verge of achieving it. Most recently, Kayo Goncalves fell one point shy of the mark with nine points, 10 rebounds. It was the first time a Jaguar had pulled down double-digit rebounds this season, and Goncalves had been in double figures in four of the eight Jaguar games.
Both Goncalves (6) and Flowers (20) rank in the top 20 in the nation for three-pointers made and the number one and two spots within the Sun Belt Conference.
K.K. Curry followed up his career-high scoring performance at Southern Miss by hitting double figures for the second consecutive game. It was the first time Curry had scored 10 or more in back-to-back games with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and four made free throws adding to the total. In addition, the sophomore pulled down four rebounds with an assist and a steal.
For the second time this season, Jamal West scored in double figures with 13 points. The set a personal best with five made field goals on seven attempts. West ranks third on the team with 43 rebounds while averaging 23.8 minutes per game. West is also the only Jaguar with more than 10 offensive rebounds on the year with 16.
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—
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