Jay Jay Chandler posted a career-high 26 points and Charles Manning Jr. tied a career-best with six assists as the University of South Alabama men's basketball team defeated Troy 82-63 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

Manning Jr. added 19 points and Javon Franklin finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead the Jags (15-5).
 
Christian Turner led Troy (13-7) with 13 points, Khalyl Waters chipped in 11 and Duke Deen scored 10 to power the Trojan offense.
 
Date: 1/27
Place: Mitchell Center
Final Score: South Alabama 82, Troy 63
Records: South Alabama 15-5 (5-2), Troy 13-7 (4-3)
 
GAME FACTS
- The Jags opened the game shooting 4-for-7 from the field to open up a 10-8 lead.
- Troy answered with seven straight points to grab a 15-10 lead with 14:46 left.
- USA responded with a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 19-15, highlighted by a Chandler three-pointer.
- Manning Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to six, 26-20, with 7:22 remaining in the half.
- Duke Miles connected on a three-pointer and Christyon Eugene hit a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 29-29.
- Kayo Goncalves hit back-to-back three-pointers and Chandler knocked down a jumper to put South Alabama up, 39-33, at the break.
- South started the second half on a 7-2 run to push the lead to 11, 46-35.
- The Trojans answered with six straight points to cut the it to five, 46-41, with just under 15 minutes to go.
- USA knocked down three straight shots to expand the lead to 12, 53-41, as Chandler banked in a three-pointer with 13:25 remaining in the game.
- Troy responded with a 11-4 run, sparked by a Deen three-pointer to cut the deficit to five, 57-52, with 10:25 left in regulation.
- South Alabama outscored Troy 24-8 over the final 10 minutes to secure the win, 82-63.
- USA outscored the Trojans 23-2 on fast break points.
 
NOTES
- South Alabama has won seven straight games against the Trojans and improved to 28-11 against Troy all-time.
- The Jags improved to 10-1 at the Mitchell Center this season.
- South's 82-63 win was the second largest margin of victory over Troy in school history. The largest margin of victory was a 70-43 win on Dec. 19, 1995.
- USA shot 51.9 percent from the field on Thursday night. South Alabama is now 6-0 this season when shooting over 50 percent for the game.
- The Jaguars improved to 11-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
- South has won five straight Sun Belt games.
- South Alabama went 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) from the charity stripe. The 21 makes were a season-high figure.
- Chandler's 26 points tied a season-high for any Jaguar this season. Chandler has scored 10 or more points in 18 consecutive games and has scored at least 20 points in seven contests.
- Franklin has finished with at least 10 points in seven straight games.
- Manning Jr. tied a career-high in assists and has scored 19 or more points in five straight contests.
- Goncalves finished the night 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Goncalves has hit at least one three-pointer in eight straight games and 19 out of 20 contests this season.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
- Opening statement:
"The crowd was huge tonight. It just meant so much to our guys with our students showing up like that and supporting them. And then, our community and Mobile showed up tonight. It makes a difference. The energy levels our guys were off the charts because of that. I like to take credit when I can coach but I can't give them what our students and our city gave them tonight. So, hopefully, they liked what you saw tonight and will come back next time we are in here. It's just so much fun for our guys. I cannot express how much fun it is for our guys to play in that kind of environment. As far as our team, I liked our approach all week in terms of preparation. I liked that we understood the rivalry. We have a lot of guys who haven't played in this rivalry. I started explaining it to them right after the ULM game when we were on the bus to come home. I was telling them how much it means to the university, the fan base, the city, Troy, and just the magnitude of the rivalry. They understood that and embraced it. I loved our approach. There were some moments where we dipped and struggled, but it wasn't long segments. I'm proud of that."
 
- On Jay Jay Chandler:
"I loved how he played tonight. He scored 26 points and shot an incredible percentage. He was 3-to-1 assist to turnovers, 7-for-7 from the free throw line. He sprayed a lot of balls out when he drove the ball. That's a sign that he is really starting to see things and the game is slowing down. I loved how he played defensively. He made so many plays that won't show up in the box score. Early in the first half, he had a swipe and deflection on a jump shooter and it ended up being an easy one for us on the other end. The thing I preach to our guys all the time is that if you focus on doing that defensively and focus on doing winning things, then the ball usually goes in for you. And he did that and shot a great percentage. He's just wired to score. When he takes great shots and plays at his pace, he's a heck of an offensive player."
 
- On the second half adjustments defensively:
"We made some adjustments at halftime. I give my coaching staff a ton of credit. Those guys made some adjustments and we talked through them and did a good job of executing our plan. In the first half, we didn't really execute our plan as good as we needed to. Some of that was urgency and energy, but a lot of it was attention to detail on things that we had prepared earlier in the week. We didn't do a great job of doing that in the first half but it showed in the second half. I was proud of our effort in the second half defensively. They shot 25 percent from three and that's a heck of a number and held them to 30 in the second half. When we want to guard and our guys are locked in, we have a chance to be a really good defensive team. We have showed that throughout the season. When we are not locked in and decide to try and trade buckets with people, our defense dips. I give our players a ton of credit too, they owned their mistakes. They came out and adjusted, made the corrections and played a really good second half."
 
- On playing Troy again on Saturday:
"We have to make corrections tomorrow and we have to go up there and be better than we were tonight. I'm sure their atmosphere is going to be electric. Scott Cross is a heck of a coach, so I know that they will be ready to go."
 
UP NEXT
- USA will go on the road to take on Troy on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST).