University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, November 20
Cancun, Mexico
2 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
vs
%20(1).png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
North Florida
Men's Basketball set for Cancun Challenge on Tuesday, Wednesday
11/19/2018 10:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tournament Central (including live stats and watch links)
CANCUN, Mexico -- Buenos dias from the Gulf Coast. The Southern Miss men's basketball team is ready for tip-off south of the border Tuesday and Wednesday from the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. The Golden Eagles first battle North Florida on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT, and will then face either Jacksonville State or Western Carolina on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. CT.Â
All games will be streamed on CBS Sports Live's account, which are on a paid-subscription basis. They will also air, per usual, on the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network and Gameday app with John Cox on the call.
Southern Miss is 0-1 against North Florida, 2-2 against Jacksonville State and has never faced Western Carolina. It has not faced any of those teams since 2009.
–     Times are good for Southern Miss right now. The team is off to its first 3-0 start of the Doc Sadler era, including back-to-back quality road wins at SMU (74-64) and Troy (81-66). The Golden Eagles held just three true road wins over the past two seasons, but veteran leadership and newfound depth has helped the Black and Gold move through the shadows of Sadler's inherited NCAA sanctions.
–     Cortez Edwards became the 37th member of Southern Miss' 1,000-point club on Thursday, going 11-for-16 from the field with 26 points at Troy. He is the first since Gary Flowers in 2011 to reach that mark, and in doing so also passed Berlin Ladner (1965-68) for 36th on the Golden Eagles' all-time scoring list. He now needs 18 to catch Glenn Mason (1,026).Â
–    Edwards needs 43 rebounds to become the fourth player in Southern Miss history to register 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists over their career. Edwards also finished his junior season with single-season school records for steals (71) and minutes (1,219). He has also increased his scoring totals from 1.9 to 11.0 to 16.6 ppg his first three years.Â
–    This is Southern Miss' second-ever trip to Cancun. The 2010-11 squad competed in the Governor's Cup, taking down East Tennessee State and Saint Louis before falling to Colorado State. That team went 22-10 and finished fifth in C-USA. The Golden Eagles are also making their third consecutive tropical trip, having competed in a preseason Bahamas tour in August 2017 as well as the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Dec. 2016.
–   Leonard Harper-Baker has quietly become one of the biggest contributors of Southern Miss' early success. He has averaged 7.7 points (10-for-13 from field) and 7.0 rebounds so far, including starts in the last two contests. He sat out last season to nurse a knee injury. Another juco transfer, Boban Jacdonmi, has also gone 4-for-5 from the field with six offensive boards in his two games.
–     Southern Miss has also made 13 three-pointers in each of the last two games, something it only did six times in the previous three seasons. The 22 assists versus Troy were its most against a Division I team since Jan. 18 versus Rice.
–     Another notable feat for the Golden Eagles has been their ability to rebound. It held a 36-31 advantage at SMU despite going with its traditional guard-heavy set and tied with Troy. Only five times in 34 games last season did Southern Miss out-rebound its opponent.
–    The Black and Gold continued its trend of improving its C-USA win total in each season Doc Sadler has been in charge (3-5-6-7) after inheriting a two-year NCAA postseason ban and loss of scholarships amongst other sanctions, and are one of 11 teams in the nation to hold such distinction. The team's 16 wins last season marked its most since the 2011-12 NCAA Tourney squad.
–    Southern Miss returns 87 percent of its points from a year ago, including four starters (Griffin, Magee, Cortez Edwards, Kevin Holland). Edwards ended last season with four consecutive 20-point games, the first Golden Eagle to accomplish the feat since Chip Armelin in 2015. Edwards also averaged 27.3 ppg in the final three games to earn All-Tournament honors, which included a 30-spot against Marshall.
–     The Golden Eagles ranked fifth and 10th nationally for fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and assist-turnover ratio (1.51) last season. Southern Miss has also had just 10 turnovers in its last three halves after committing 10 in the first period at SMU.
CANCUN, Mexico -- Buenos dias from the Gulf Coast. The Southern Miss men's basketball team is ready for tip-off south of the border Tuesday and Wednesday from the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. The Golden Eagles first battle North Florida on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT, and will then face either Jacksonville State or Western Carolina on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. CT.Â
All games will be streamed on CBS Sports Live's account, which are on a paid-subscription basis. They will also air, per usual, on the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network and Gameday app with John Cox on the call.
Southern Miss is 0-1 against North Florida, 2-2 against Jacksonville State and has never faced Western Carolina. It has not faced any of those teams since 2009.
–     Times are good for Southern Miss right now. The team is off to its first 3-0 start of the Doc Sadler era, including back-to-back quality road wins at SMU (74-64) and Troy (81-66). The Golden Eagles held just three true road wins over the past two seasons, but veteran leadership and newfound depth has helped the Black and Gold move through the shadows of Sadler's inherited NCAA sanctions.
–     Cortez Edwards became the 37th member of Southern Miss' 1,000-point club on Thursday, going 11-for-16 from the field with 26 points at Troy. He is the first since Gary Flowers in 2011 to reach that mark, and in doing so also passed Berlin Ladner (1965-68) for 36th on the Golden Eagles' all-time scoring list. He now needs 18 to catch Glenn Mason (1,026).Â
–    Edwards needs 43 rebounds to become the fourth player in Southern Miss history to register 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists over their career. Edwards also finished his junior season with single-season school records for steals (71) and minutes (1,219). He has also increased his scoring totals from 1.9 to 11.0 to 16.6 ppg his first three years.Â
–    This is Southern Miss' second-ever trip to Cancun. The 2010-11 squad competed in the Governor's Cup, taking down East Tennessee State and Saint Louis before falling to Colorado State. That team went 22-10 and finished fifth in C-USA. The Golden Eagles are also making their third consecutive tropical trip, having competed in a preseason Bahamas tour in August 2017 as well as the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Dec. 2016.
–   Leonard Harper-Baker has quietly become one of the biggest contributors of Southern Miss' early success. He has averaged 7.7 points (10-for-13 from field) and 7.0 rebounds so far, including starts in the last two contests. He sat out last season to nurse a knee injury. Another juco transfer, Boban Jacdonmi, has also gone 4-for-5 from the field with six offensive boards in his two games.
–     Southern Miss has also made 13 three-pointers in each of the last two games, something it only did six times in the previous three seasons. The 22 assists versus Troy were its most against a Division I team since Jan. 18 versus Rice.
–     Another notable feat for the Golden Eagles has been their ability to rebound. It held a 36-31 advantage at SMU despite going with its traditional guard-heavy set and tied with Troy. Only five times in 34 games last season did Southern Miss out-rebound its opponent.
–    The Black and Gold continued its trend of improving its C-USA win total in each season Doc Sadler has been in charge (3-5-6-7) after inheriting a two-year NCAA postseason ban and loss of scholarships amongst other sanctions, and are one of 11 teams in the nation to hold such distinction. The team's 16 wins last season marked its most since the 2011-12 NCAA Tourney squad.
–    Southern Miss returns 87 percent of its points from a year ago, including four starters (Griffin, Magee, Cortez Edwards, Kevin Holland). Edwards ended last season with four consecutive 20-point games, the first Golden Eagle to accomplish the feat since Chip Armelin in 2015. Edwards also averaged 27.3 ppg in the final three games to earn All-Tournament honors, which included a 30-spot against Marshall.
–     The Golden Eagles ranked fifth and 10th nationally for fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and assist-turnover ratio (1.51) last season. Southern Miss has also had just 10 turnovers in its last three halves after committing 10 in the first period at SMU.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballJay Ladner Press Conference - October 15, 2025
Wednesday, October 15
Southern Miss-Alabama State Highlights - 12/05/24
Friday, December 06
MBB: Southern Miss vs. Loyola New Orleans Highlights
Wednesday, November 13
Postgame Highlights - Southern Miss vs. Xavier (La.)
Wednesday, March 06