Game 25 • Troy Trojans (9-15, 5-8) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (13-11, 6-7)
February 7, 2020 • 8 p.m. • Trojan Arena (5,200) • Troy, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama    
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 30-28 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 65-56 (4th year)
Record vs. Troy: 2-0

Troy    
Richard Cross (UT Arlington, 1998)
Record at Troy: 9-15 (1st year)
Overall Record: 234-176 (13th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama completed the season sweep of Georgia Southern with a 79-69 win last Saturday in Statesboro, while Troy also completed the season sweep of Georgia State with 84-78 win.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars welcome Louisiana to the Mitchell Center Thursday night. Troy will host ULM.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; JT Crabtree (pxp) and Joe McNulty (analyst)

RANKINGS (ratings through Feb. 4)
USA: #168 NET, #152 Sagarin
Troy: #232 NET, #240 Sagarin

THE SERIES
USA leads 23-11

Current streak: South Alabama, 2 wins
Last meeting: South Alabama 68, Troy 52 (2/23/19)
Troy's last win in the series: 69-62 (3/7/18)
Troy's last win at Trojan Arena: 80-63 (2/3/18)
USA's record at Trojan Arena: 5-2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 3

Notes: South Alabama has won 23 of the previous 34 meetings in the series and swept the season series a year ago … All but two of the series meetings have come either during Sun Belt Conference regular-season play or in the conference tournament … South has won 10 of the 14 meetings on the Trojan's home floor … Since the 2013-14 season, eight of the last 11 games in the series have been decided by single digits … The series dates back to the 1992-93 season.

OPENING TIP

South Alabama concludes its three-game road trip after picking up a 79-69 road win at Georgia Southern last Saturday.

Five players finished in double figures led by Trhae Mitchell's season-high 22 points as he was 8 for 11 and hit both 3-point attempts, while he also led the team in rebounds (8) and assists (5).

The 20-point outing was the first by Mitchell since posting 22 points at Coastal Carolina (3/7) last season.

The win versus the Eagles snapped a season-long three-game skid.

After scoring a game-high 20 points for his fifth 20-point outing of the season against Georgia State, Fox finished in double figures against the Eagles, marking his first back-to-back double-figure efforts since opening the season with nine-straight double-figure outings.

South holds a commanding, 23-11 lead in the all-time series versus Troy and has won 10 of the 14 series meetings in Troy.

Josh Ajayi comes into the contest having posted nine-straight double figure games. Since being held to 2 points at Chattanooga on Nov. 15, he has finished in double figures 17 times.

Ajayi has recorded eight games of 20 or more points this season and his seven double-doubles rank second in the conference. Four of his seven double-doubles have come against league competition. Ajayi sits one double-double shy of moving into a tie for third (Virgil Stanescu, 27) as he has 26 for his career and seven this season.

The 6-foot-6 forward leads the Sun Belt in field-goal percentage (.581), is fifth in scoring (15.7) and ranks second in rebounding (7.8).

South held a dominant 40-12 advantage in the points in the paint category against Georgia Southern. Since its game versus Mobile (Dec. 28), the Jaguars have outscored opponents a combined total of 378-206 and over that 12-game stretch South is averaging 31.5 ppg and holding opponents to 17.2 ppg in the paint.  

Chad Lott is 16th in the SBC in scoring (13.0) and second in field-goal percentage (.551).

Troy comes into the game versus the Jaguars after sweeping the season series versus Georgia State with an 84-78 win in Atlanta. Trailing by seven with five minutes to go, the Trojans closed the game on a 13-6 run.

Four players are averaging double figures led by Darian Adams (12.5) and Ty Gordon (12.3). As a team, Troy ranks third in the SBC in 3-pointers per game (8.5), but the Trojans are 12th in the league in both field-goal percentage (.403) and rebounding defense (38.8).

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).

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—USA—