Mobile Courant

The University of South Alabama issued the following announcement on March 27.

 33 • South Alabama Jaguars (21-11) (9-7) vs Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (18-13) (8-8)

March 28, 2022 • 7 p.m. (CST) • Mitchell Center • Mobile, Ala.

THE COACHES

South Alabama        

Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)

Record at USA: 75-50 (4th year)

Overall Record: 110-78 (6th year)

Record vs. Coastal Carolina: 5-4

Coastal Carolina      

Cliff Ellis (Florida State, 1968)

Record at Coastal Carolina: 282-202 (15th year)

Overall Record: 816-539

Record vs. South Alabama: 7-6

LAST GAME

South Alabama defeated USC Upstate 83-79 in the second round of The Basketball Classic on Monday. Coastal Carolina knocked off Florida Gulf Coast 84-68 to advance to the semifinals.

NEXT GAME

The winner will advance to the finals of The Basketball Classic and take on the winner of Fresno State/Southern Utah. The date and time are TBA.

ON THE AIR

Radio: Sports Talk 99.5: J.T. Crabtree (pxp), Joe McNulty (color)

Web: http://sportstalk995.iheart.com/listen (audio)

ESPN+ (Internet Streaming): J.D. Byars (pxp), Pat Greenwood (color)

RANKINGS

USA: #153 Sagarin, NET #146

Coastal Carolina: #159 Sagarin, NET #158

THE SERIES

Overall: Coastal Carolina leads the series 8-7

Longest USA streak: 3

Longest Coastal Carolina streak: 3

Current Streak: USA - 3

First Meeting: 12/3/88, 88-65 W

Last Meeting: 2/17/22, 71-68 W

NOTES

- USA has won four out of the last six matchups against Coastal Carolina, including the last three.

- Kayo Goncalves knocked down the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to beat Coastal Carolina 71-68 the last time the two teams met back on Feb. 17. The game-winning shot as time expired was Goncalves' second of his career.

- South has now won two games this postseason for just the second time in program history. The Jaguars won two games in the 1981 NIT.

- USA's win in the first round was the first postseason win since the 1988-89 season when South came back from down 19 points to knock off Alabama 86-84 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

- This is South's first postseason appearance since the 2012-13 team played in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

- USA is 15-2 at home this season. The 15 wins are the second-most in Mitchell Center history, only trailing the 2007-08 team's 17 wins.

- South Alabama's 21 wins are the most for the program since the 2007-08 team won 26 games. The Jags have won at least 20 games in two out of four seasons under Richie Riley.

- The Jags are 14-2 this season when leading at the half.

- The Jaguars went 30-for-51 (58.8 percent) against USC Upstate and improved to 9-0 when shooting over 50 percent for the game.

- South Alabama forced USC Upstate to turn the ball over 14 times on Monday. The Jaguars are 16-4 this season when an opponent commits more turnovers.

- Coastal Carolina's Cliff Ellis has a deep connection to South Alabama. Ellis was South's head coach from 1975-84 and is the second-winningest head coach in Jag history with 171 wins.

- Riley coached under Ellis at Coastal Carolina from 2009-11 as an assistant.

- 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 Ellis did it from 1979-81.

- South Alabama finished the regular season ranked in the top 3 of the Sun Belt in scoring offense (71.4), scoring margin (8.2), field-goal percentage (45.8), field-goal percentage defense (40.2), blocked shots per game, three-point field goal defense (31.3) and turnover margin (2.1).

- The Jaguars are 16-2 this season when scoring at least 70 points.

- Javon Franklin scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting in the win over USC Upstate. Franklin is averaging 22 points and 10.5 boards in two games at The Basketball Classic.

- Franklin posted his seventh double-double of the season against SE Louisiana, with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Little Rock, Ark. native was named the Travis Grant Game MVP for his performance. Franklin also dished out a career-high four assists and tied a career-best with four blocks in the game.

- Tyrell Jones finished with a career-high 17 points against SE Louisiana and dished out a career-best six assists in the win over USC Upstate. Jones has scored 10 or more points in three straight games.

- Goncalves has now made 151 three-pointers in two years at USA. He ranks ninth all-time at USA for most three-pointers made in a career and needs two more to surpass Herb McGee on the career list.

- Tyler Shirley finished with a career-high eight points in 31 minutes in the win over USC Upstate.

Original source can be found here.