MOBILE, Ala. – Charles Manning Jr. finished with a team-best 17 points, five assists and four steals as the University of South Alabama men's basketball team defeated UTA 62-52 on Friday night at the Mitchell Center.
 
Javon Franklin added 11 points, while Kayo Goncalves and Diante Smith both chipped in eight to power the Jag attack.
 
UTA's David Azore scored a game-high 22 points and three other Mavericks finished with eight points each.
 
Date: 2/25
Place: Mitchell Center
Final Score: South Alabama 62, UTA 52
Records: South Alabama (19-10) (9-7), UTA Mavericks (11-17) (7-10)
 
GAME FACTS
- South jumped out to an early 20-11 lead as seven different Jags scored on seven made field-goals over the first 12 minutes.
- USA pushed the lead to 13, 26-13, as Marshall Kearing scored four points and Alex Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:06 left in the half.
- UTA's Azore and Patrick Mwamba connected on back-to-back triples with 11 seconds left to cut the deficit to seven, 30-23.
- The Mavericks opened the second half by hitting back-to-back threes to cut the Jag lead to one, 30-29.
- The Jags answered with a quick 5-0 run to expand the lead to six, 35-29, highlighted by a Goncalves' three-pointer.
- UTA scored nine of the next 11 points to take its first lead of the game, 38-37, with 12:17 to go.
- Smith and Lance Thomas hit back-to-back threes and South Alabama responded with a 15-3 run to retake the lead, 52-41, with 5:04 remaining.
- Nicolas Elame knocked down a triple to cut the Jag lead to single-digits, 57-49, with 2:47 to go in the game.
- Anderson and Manning Jr. went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe over the final 1:38 to secure the 62-52 victory.
 
NOTES
- USA now leads the all-time series 10-7 and has won two out of the last three matchups.
- The Jaguars have held opponents under 55 points in five of the past seven games.
- The Jags improved to 12-1 this season when leading at the half.

- With the win, South secured the No. 5 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

- South Alabama will play No. 12 seed Little Rock on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CST) in Pensacola, Fla.

- The Jags finished the season 13-2 at home at the Mitchell Center. The 13 wins are tied for the second-most in Mitchell Center history, only trailing the 2007-08 team's 17 wins.

- South's 19 wins are the second most since the 2008-09 season, Richie Riley's 2019-20 team finished with 20 victories.

- USA has had a winning record in the Sun Belt in three straight seasons under Riley. Riley is the first head coach to achieve three straight winning seasons in the Sun Belt since Cliff Ellis did it from 1979-81.

- John Pelphrey and Ronnie Arrow combined to have four straight winning seasons in Sun Belt play from 2006-09.

- Manning Jr. led the team in scoring in 13 contests this season and scored at least 10 points in 20 games.

- Franklin posted 10 or more points in 18 games.

- Goncalves tied a season-high with eight rebounds.

- Thomas has hit five three-pointers in his last two games and is shooting 55 percent from beyond the arc.

- Smith has knocked down at least one triple in 10 straight contests. 

- Smith grabbed a career-best nine rebounds and tied a career-high with four steals.
 

THEY SAID IT

 Head Coach Richie Riley

- Opening statement:

"The biggest thing is that I'm just so happy for our guys. These seasons are long, tough and they are hard, harder than you can imagine unless you have been a part of one and been through it. Our kids, after the last two games, have struggled. They were struggling from a confidence standpoint and just beat down. Tonight, our leading scorer comes out and gets hurt in the first six minutes of the game. Our kids showed so much resolve and just fought. The ball still didn't go in and we missed a bunch of shots, but they found a way to get stops. They did a much better job on the backboard. It wasn't perfect, we still gave up 11 offensive rebounds. But, we won the battle on the glass and we did a heck of a job on the offensive glass. I was just really proud of us and our fight because it is hard to win. We've now won 19 games this season and we have a shot at 20. Twenty wins have only been done just a handful of times here and we have done it once since we've been here. It's happened a few other times before we got here. It has been tough and I am proud of them for finding a way with guys getting injured and everything we have been through to be where we are right now headed into the tournament with positive momentum."
 

- On why the team can make a run in the conference tournament:

"I think our ceiling is really high, I've said that all season. We have had a lot of ups and downs. I know 19-10 doesn't feel completely up and down, it is pretty good. But, our ceiling is high. Now we have to play with a high level of care, effort, and focus to get to that ceiling. There is no better time for that than tournament time. Usually, teams play the hardest during the tournament and that is just the way it works. It is a one-and-done situation and you get to keep playing as long as you win. I love our guys in that situation. We played in a tournament in Las Vegas earlier this season and beat two quality opponents that are both having a good year on a neutral court. We now have a chance to go down the road and start Thursday and make that trek. If we are fortunate to win on Thursday, then we get Friday off and have a chance to prepare and then have the opportunity on Saturday to try and win three in a row on three straight days."

UP NEXT
- USA will face Little Rock on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CST) in Pensacola, Fla. in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

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—