Game 5 • South Alabama (3-1) at Auburn (1-2)
December 4, 2020 • 8 p.m. • Auburn Arena (9,121) • Auburn, Ala

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 37-28 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 72-56 (5th year)
Record vs. Auburn: 0-2

Auburn
Bruce Pearl (Boston College, 1982)
Record at Auburn: 126-80 (7th year)
Overall Record: 588-225 (26th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama defeated Emmanuel (Ga.), 86-47, Tuesday Night in the Mitchell Center. Auburn fell to Central Florida, 63-55, at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla.

NEXT GAME
USA will return home to face William Carey on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Auburn will face Memphis in Atlanta, Ga., eight days after playing South on Dec. 12.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5: J.T. Crabtree (pxp), Joe McNulty (color)
Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio)
SEC Network (TV/Internet Streaming): Paul Sunderland (pxp), Jon Sundvold (color)

RANKINGS
USA: #169 NET*, #171 Sagarin
Auburn: # 27NET*, #68 Sagarin
*NET reflects the end of last season

THE SERIES
This will be the 12th meeting in the series, Auburn leads seven wins to four. At Auburn, The Tigers hold a four game to two advantage. USA's most recent win came at Auburn (12/1/00).

NOTES
The University of South Alabama men's basketball team travels for its first road game of the year to Auburn for a marquee match with the Tigers in Auburn Arena with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday night.

The Tigers have claimed victory in the last four meetings of the series with the most recent South Alabama win happening just over two decades ago when USA triumphed 68-66 on Dec. 1, 2000. The last meeting was decided by a single point when the teams met in the Mitchell Center on Nov. 12, last year. The then No. 22 team in the country had Isaac Okoro make a layup with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation to go up 70-69.

USA enters the matchup with a 3-1 record after dispatching Emmanuel (Ga.), 86-47, Tuesday night in the Mitchell Center.

Auburn won its first game of the year, beating Saint Joseph's in overtime 96-91, but followed that up with a 23-point loss to the No. 1 team in the country according to the Associated Press Poll, Gonzaga, and an eight-point defeat to Central Florida most recently.

South spread around the scoring last time out with six players getting into double figures. Michael Flowers led the way for USA, a feat he has accomplished in all four of the Jags' contests, with 17. Kayo Goncalves scored 14 with four threes and a field goal, while Jamal West and Tyreke Locure had 12 each. KK Curry and David Walker were the other two Jags to make it into double digits, while both came off the bench; it was the first time either player had scored 10 or more this season.

Replacing 84.5 percent of their scoring, Jaguar newcomers Flowers, Goncalves, Walker and West contributed with 191 of South's 322 points scored over the four games. Returners John Pettway and Locure with first-year player Sam Iorio made up the bulk of the remainder with 118 points between the three.

The Jaguars have taken care of the ball in the past three games, with under 10 turnovers in each contest, and won the turnover battle by an average of nine per game.

No Jaguar has managed a double-double this year, but a few have been very close. Locure needed two rebounds or less in three of the four games and West was one point and a rebound shy of the mark against Mobile while falling a rebound shy against Emmanuel. Goncalves was two rebounds short against Emmanuel, with an eight-point, eight-rebound effort against FAU on opening night.

After a drama filled offseason, Flowers introduced himself to South Alabama with a go-ahead three with one second left in the opening-night game against Florida Atlantic. The senior from Southfield, Mich., has averaged 20.3 points per game over the season.

Including his seasons at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Goncalves set a career high with four blocks against Emmanuel (Ga.). That total is twice as many as any other player on the team has on the season.

Iorio is hopeful to return to action against the Tigers Friday night. Scoring 16 points in the first game off nearly perfect shooting, 5-of-6 from the field with 2-of-2 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, Iorio went down injured in the opening minutes against Mobile, coming off the court after making two free throws.