Game Notes

Game 29 • South Alabama Jaguars (13-15, 6-9) at Texas State Bobcats (16-11, 9-6)
February 27, 2017 • 7 p.m. • Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 50-75 (4th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Texas State: 2-5

Texas State
Danny Kaspar (North Texas, 1978)
Record at TXST: 53-67 (4th year)
Overall Record: 518-260 (26th year)

LAST GAME
South Alabama shot 32.5 percent in the second half in a 86-75 loss at  Texas-Arlington on Saturday. Texas State defeated Troy 63-59.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars start the last week of the regular season Thursday against Little Rock. The Bobcats are on the road at Louisiana-Lafayette.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/ (audio); Bobcats All-Access (video)

RANKINGS (Through Feb. 25)
USA: #218 RPI, #234 Sagarin
TXST: #204 RPI, #212 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Texas State leads 5-2.

Current streak: South Alabama, 1 win
Last meeting: South Alabama 72, Texas State 67 OT (1/14/17)
TXST's last win in the series: 78-67 (1/14/16)
USA's last win in Strahan Coliseum: None
TXST's last win in Strahan Coliseum: 68-57 (3/5/16)
USA's record in Strahan Coliseum: 0-3
USA's road streak: Lost 3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 4

Notes: The two schools have met just seven times in their history, all after Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference starting in 2013-14… The Jaguars stopped a four-game losing streak in the series earlier this year in overtime.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is 1-14 in road games and has lost 10 straight in the state of Texas since the start of the 2007-08 season. The one win came against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011-12.

USA shot 8 for 18 from the foul line after halftime vs. Texas-Arlington, and 11 for 23 for the game. Monday marked the third time this season the Jaguars converted less than 50 percent at the line this season.

USA tied its season low Saturday with five turnovers and was plus-11 in turnover margin. The plus-11 turnover margin is tied for the team's best since the 2008-09 season.

The Jags are 9-3 this season when posting a positive assist/turnover ratio.

The team set a new season high Saturday with 12 steals, including three from Shaq Calhoun. USA converted those turnovers into 20 points, compared to UTA's four.

South Alabama (+2.74) and Texas State (+2.73) rank first and second, respectively, in the Sun Belt in turnover margin. The Bobcats had 12 turnovers to the Jaguars' 13 in the first meeting in January.

USA is 17th in the nation in turnovers forced (16.21 pg), 23rd in turnover margin (+3.0) and 53rd in steals (7.2 pg).

The Jags have shot less than 30 percent from 3-point land in three of their last four outings after hitting 26.7 percent vs. UTA.

Nick Stover has hit double-digit points in three of his last four games and is averaging 11.8 points while shooting 60.0 percent from the floor over that span.

Trhae Mitchell is averaging 12.0 points and 2.0 blocks with a .900 shooting percentage in his last two games after Saturday night's 11-point, 4-for-4 shooting effort.

Since joining the starting lineup on Jan. 23, Mitchell is averaging 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, and converting 68.4 percent from the field, and 75.0 percent from 3-point land.

Georgi Boyanov grabbed three rebounds Saturday, inching him closer to eighth place on USA's career list. He currently has 587, six shy of Mychal Ammons (2011-14).

Don MuepoKelly's streak with at least one block was snapped at 10, but he did have a steal, extending his run of games with at least one theft to eight.

Ken Williams, who had his double-digit scoring streak broken at 12 with just four points, still dished out a team-high four assists with one turnover. He is eight assists shy of 100 for the season. He would become the first player since Jeff Hodge in 1988-89 to lead the team in scoring and have 100-plus assists in two straight seasons.

Williams needs three field goals to tie Andy Denny (534) for seventh at USA and five 3-pointers to tie Derek Turner's (249) school record.

Texas State's Kavin Gilder-Tilbury is averaging just 7.0 points vs. South Alabama in his career, with four games of seven points or fewer. He had 10 on 3-of-13 shooting earlier this year in Mobile.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—