Game 29 • Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (14-14, 7-10) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (17-11, 10-7)
February 22, 2020 • 1 p.m. • HTC Center (3,212) • Conway, S.C.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
    Record at USA: 34-28 (2nd year)
    Overall Record: 69-56 (4th year)
    Record vs. CCU: 1-2

Coastal Carolina
Cliff Ellis (Florida State, 1968)
    Record at CCU: 244-178 (13th year)
    Overall Record: 778-515 (42nd year)

LAST GAME
USA picked up a 78-70 victory Thursday at Appalachian State.  The Chanticleers earned a 90-60 win over Troy at home on Thursday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars are off until Saturday, Feb. 29, when Troy visits the Mitchell Center. CCU travels to Appalachian State for an afternoon tip the same day.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5; J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video); Jeff McCarragher (pxp), Nate Ross (color)

RANKINGS (ratings through Feb. 20)
USA: #177 NET, #132 Sagarin
CCU: #197 NET, #196 Sagarin

THE SERIES
CCU leads 6-3.

Current winning streak: CCU, 2 wins
Last meeting: Coastal Carolina 81, South Alabama 69 (12/21/19) in Mobile
USA's last win in series: 84-77 2OT (1/5/19) in Mobile
CCU's last win at the HTC Center: 92-70 (3/7/19)
USA's record at the HTC Center: 0-3
USA's road streak: —
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 3

Notes: The two schools split a home-and-home series during the 1988-89 and '89-90 season, but since then all meetings have been after the Chanticleers joined the Sun Belt Conference prior to the '16-17 campaign... Neither program has swept both games in the regular season, as CCU's second win in 2017 came at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans... The winning team has scored 80 or more points in each of the last three match-ups in the series... The Chants' two most recent victories have been by a double-digit margin, but the three contests before that were decided by seven points or less.

OPENING TIP
South's five-game winning streak is the program's longest since opening the 2016-17 campaign with five consecutive victories.

The Chanticleers have won their last two home games by a double-digit margin after Thursday's win over Troy.

Trhae Mitchell has now scored in double figures in five of the Jags' last seven contests, posting averages of 14.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during that stretch.

The senior has also handed out 12 assists while committing just three turnovers the last three outings.

Andre Fox has averaged 15.2 points and made 2.8 three-point field goals per outing the last six games, scoring in double figures on each of those occasions.

In the ULM victory, Kevin Morris grabbed eight rebounds in just under 10 minutes of action after entering play with eight boards in his previous six appearances combined.

John Pettway is the only player on South's roster to record five or more steals in a game this season, a feat he has now accomplished three times after posting five thefts in 25 minutes against ULM.

He has also contributed 24 points in the team's last three victories after missing the previous three contests due to injury, with his six assists at Appalachian State tying the most by a Jaguar this season.

With 20 points each in last Thursday's win over Louisiana, Mitchell and Fox became the first Jaguars to score 20 or more points in the same game since Josh Ajayi and Chad Lott accomplished the feat in a defeat of Miami (Ohio) at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 26.

Ajayi — one of four players to finish in double figures in USA's Feb. 7 win at Troy, posting 20 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season — returned from an injury that forced him to miss two games to lead South with 19 points at App State.

The 20-point outing for Ajayi was his ninth of the season, and he has finished in double figures in 11-straight appearances. Since being held to two points at Chattanooga on Nov. 15, he has finished in double figures 18 times.

Ajayi's eight double-doubles this year are twice as many as the rest of the team has combined to produce, although a Jag turned the trick in each game he missed last week — Chad Lott finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat of the Ragin' Cajuns in addition to Mitchell's performance last time out.

Ten of the Jags' last 11 contests have been decided by a single-digit margin.

USA has scored 70 or more points in four of its five victories during its current streak.

South has outscored the opposition by a 182-98 margin in the point during its current winning streak.

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—