University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Men's Basketball Regular Season Begins Friday Night
11/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team is just one day away from beginning its regular season. The Golden Eagles will host Tougaloo on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Reed Green Coliseum, marking the first all-time meeting between the teams.
The contest also features several significant promotions. The first 1,000 fans will receive a schedule poster, while those ages 12 and under have free admission. The team will hold a postgame autograph session on the floor as well.
Prior to last season, the Golden Eagles had not been on the losing end of a season opener since 2004, which was Larry Eustachy's first game at Southern Miss. Going back further, the previous opening-night loss before that was in 1996, when James Green began his tenure.
Southern Miss is coming off a pair of exhibition wins. Thursday night saw the Golden Eagles outlast Mississippi College 96-95 in double-overtime before a 79-60 win on Monday over William Carey. There were nine combined double-digit scoring performances, led by Quinton Campbell (15 ppg) and Bilal Abdur-Rahim (14.5). The Golden Eagles shot 47.2 percent as a team over those two nights.
That Thursday win, while not official, was the first overtime win for Southern Miss in the Doc Sadler era after four previous attempts. Tougaloo has one regular-season game under its belt, an 86-74 win over Texas College on Monday. It also fell in exhibition play to Mississippi Valley State after knocking off the ABA's Jackson Showboats, 113-91.
Fans can follow the game via listening to Josh West on the Southern MIss IMG Sports Network (104.5 in Hattiesburg), watching SouthernMiss.com/AllAccess, or checking out @SouthernMissMBB on Twitter and Gametracker.
Tickets purchased in advance can be done so via SouthernMissTickets.com, calling 1-800-844-TICK, or visiting the Pat Ferlise Center during normal business hours.
