Game 31 • Texas State Bobcats (20-10, 13-6) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (19-11, 12-7)
March 3, 2020 • 7 p.m. • Mitchell Center (5,520) • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
    Record at USA: 36-28 (2nd year)
    Overall Record: 71-56 (4th year)
    Record vs. Texas State: 1-1

Texas State
Danny Kaspar (North Texas, 1978)
    Record at Texas State: 118-107 (7th year)
    Overall Record: 583-300 (29th year)

LAST GAME
The Jaguars earned a 78-63 victory over rival Troy at home on Saturday. Texas State defeated UTA 87-85 in triple overtime Friday in Arlington.

NEXT GAME
Both teams will next be in action at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, with the date of their first game depending on seeding following Tuesday's results in league play.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5; J.T. Crabtree (pxp)
Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio); ESPN+ (video); J.D. Byars (pxp), Pat Greenwood (color)

RANKINGS (ratings through March 1)
USA: #173 NET, #130 Sagarin
Texas State: #118 NET, #105 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Texas State leads 8-3

Current streak: Texas State, 1 win
Last meeting: Texas State 79, South Alabama 67 (3/15/19) in New Orleans, La.
USAs last win in the series: 77-63 (3/2/19) in Mobile
Texas State's last win at the Mitchell Center: 78-67 (1/14/16)
USA's record at the Mitchell Center: 3-2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 4

Notes: The two programs first met during the 2013-14 season after Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference... It's the third straight year that the Jaguars and Bobcats will meet just once during the regular season... Texas State is visiting on the Jags' Senior night for the second year in a row... All three of South's victories in the series have come at home... The winning team has scored 70-plus points in each of the last six contests... Eight of the 11 previous match-ups have been decided by 10 or more points.

OPENING TIP
The Jags' seven-game winning streak is its longest since claiming 13 straight victories from Dec. 2, 2007-Jan. 27, 2008.

This marks the first time since the 2012-13 season — when USA went 14-6 — that the Jags have posted a double-figure win total in Sun Belt action.

The win over Troy on Saturday gave the Jaguars 10 wins at the Mitchell Center,  the fourth year in a row that they have complied a double-digit victory total at home; that's the program's longest streak since doing so four straight seasons from 2005-06 through '08-09.

Chad Lott has been the Jags' leading scorer in each of the last two games and has topped the team in rebounding in three straight outings.

Andre Fox has averaged 14.9 points and made 2.4 three-point field goals per outing the last eight contests, scoring in double figures on each of those occasions.

John Pettway has contributed 42 points in the team's last five victories — going 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the field during that stretch — after missing the previous three contests due to injury, while over the last four outings he has been credited with 13 steals.

South has recorded two of the top five shooting performances as a team in the school's record books in the last two weeks — the Jaguars made 69.8 percent from the floor (second) at Appalachian State on Feb. 20 and shot 68.4 percent (fourth) in the Troy game.

The Jaguars have not trailed at the half during their winning streak, and have been behind for two minutes and five seconds or less in four of those contests.

Eleven of the Jags' last 13 contests have been decided by a single-digit margin.

USA has scored 70 or more points in six of its seven victories during its current streak.

South has outscored the opposition by a 244-150 margin in the point during its current winning streak.

The Jaguars have recorded 10 or more steals in three of the last four contests after posting 10 in the win over the Trojans last time out.

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—