University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, January 5
Denton, Texas
5 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
at
North Texas
Men's Basketball Returns to Action Saturday at North Texas
1/4/2019 1:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON, Texas -- The Golden Eagle men's basketball team will finish its Texas two-step Saturday at 5 p.m. CT when it plays at North Texas.
The Mean Green are 14-1 with back-to-back C-USA wins over Rice and Louisiana Tech. Fans can catch the live stream via ESPN Plus, as well as the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the USM Gameday app.
–    The Golden Eagles have seen several players expand their roles of late. Kevin Holland, a redshirt-senior, was 8-for-28 from long range before going 7-for-13 the last three games. Sophomore LaDavius Draine has improved his scoring output from 5.5 to 8.5 ppg, 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 44.9, and his free-throws from 9-for-18 to 15-for-17 (88 percent). Boban Jacdonmi earned his second-career start last Saturday at LA Tech, where he set career-highs of six rebounds and 17 minutes. He also started at Rice.
–    This is the final installment of a six-game road swing for the Golden Eagles. The Jan. 10 home game versus Middle Tennessee will be its first in 30 days, the longest-such stretch away from Hattiesburg since a seven-game span in the 1997-98 season (31 days). The 1978-79 team also went 38 days between home contests.
–    The Golden Eagles are coming off a bitter 73-65 loss at Rice in which they led 42-33 at the half, thanks to a Tyree Griffin bank shot from inside half-court. The Owls opened the second half on a 24-6 run, and while Southern Miss got back within 57-56 at the 6:42 mark, it was all it could do.
–    The Mean Green have steadily grown in Grant McCasland's two years as head coach. The squad won the CBI title last season and are currently receiving votes in the AP and USA Today polls. North Texas has six players averaging double-figures in scoring, led by Ryan Woolridge (12.9 points, 5.2 assists per game). He had 20 and nine, respectively, an 85-78 loss in Hattiesburg last year, while the Golden Eagles also contained three-point assassin Roosevelt Smart to 3-for-10 long-range shooting in that contest.
–    Southern Miss has had 30 free-throw attempts in the four games since collecting 26 in the Dec. 15 Wichita State contest. North Texas allows an average of 20.1 per game. Two assistants on the UNT staff previously held positions at Southern Miss. Ross Hodge served under Larry Eustachy for the 2011-12 NCAA Tournament season, and Jareem Dowling was there from 2012-15, the last of which was Doc Sadler's first season. He was instrumental in the recruitment of star Cortez Edwards (more on him, page 8).
–    Southern Miss won last year's lone head-to-head matchup, 85-78, behind Griffin's career-high 29 points. He and Edwards combined for 16-for-18 foul shooting while the Golden Eagles limited UNT to a 6-for-24 mark beyond the arc.
–    Southern Miss and Old Dominion are the only two C-USA schools to have not allowed 80 points in a single game this season. It happened to the Golden Eagles in each of the last two seasons, and this current 14-game streak is a single-season best since the 2011-12 squad did so in its final 24 games.
–    Southern Miss is No. 3 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.75) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.7 pg). As for the latter category, the Black and Gold have made major improvements over the course of Sadler's tenure. The team was No. 296 in the 2014-15 season, then finished No. 245, 117 and No. 5 in 2017-18 (first time averaging less than 10 per game since the 2008-09 season).Â
–    The Golden Eagles currently rank first in C-USA for assists (17.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.8), while second in defensive field goal percentage (39.3). Griffin leads the league in that ratio (3.6) and assists (6.6), while Edwards ranks second in steals (2.1 pg). Griffin has 294 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
–    Southern Miss has three true road wins this year after having six the previous four seasons.
The Mean Green are 14-1 with back-to-back C-USA wins over Rice and Louisiana Tech. Fans can catch the live stream via ESPN Plus, as well as the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the USM Gameday app.
–    The Golden Eagles have seen several players expand their roles of late. Kevin Holland, a redshirt-senior, was 8-for-28 from long range before going 7-for-13 the last three games. Sophomore LaDavius Draine has improved his scoring output from 5.5 to 8.5 ppg, 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 44.9, and his free-throws from 9-for-18 to 15-for-17 (88 percent). Boban Jacdonmi earned his second-career start last Saturday at LA Tech, where he set career-highs of six rebounds and 17 minutes. He also started at Rice.
–    This is the final installment of a six-game road swing for the Golden Eagles. The Jan. 10 home game versus Middle Tennessee will be its first in 30 days, the longest-such stretch away from Hattiesburg since a seven-game span in the 1997-98 season (31 days). The 1978-79 team also went 38 days between home contests.
–    The Golden Eagles are coming off a bitter 73-65 loss at Rice in which they led 42-33 at the half, thanks to a Tyree Griffin bank shot from inside half-court. The Owls opened the second half on a 24-6 run, and while Southern Miss got back within 57-56 at the 6:42 mark, it was all it could do.
–    The Mean Green have steadily grown in Grant McCasland's two years as head coach. The squad won the CBI title last season and are currently receiving votes in the AP and USA Today polls. North Texas has six players averaging double-figures in scoring, led by Ryan Woolridge (12.9 points, 5.2 assists per game). He had 20 and nine, respectively, an 85-78 loss in Hattiesburg last year, while the Golden Eagles also contained three-point assassin Roosevelt Smart to 3-for-10 long-range shooting in that contest.
–    Southern Miss has had 30 free-throw attempts in the four games since collecting 26 in the Dec. 15 Wichita State contest. North Texas allows an average of 20.1 per game. Two assistants on the UNT staff previously held positions at Southern Miss. Ross Hodge served under Larry Eustachy for the 2011-12 NCAA Tournament season, and Jareem Dowling was there from 2012-15, the last of which was Doc Sadler's first season. He was instrumental in the recruitment of star Cortez Edwards (more on him, page 8).
–    Southern Miss won last year's lone head-to-head matchup, 85-78, behind Griffin's career-high 29 points. He and Edwards combined for 16-for-18 foul shooting while the Golden Eagles limited UNT to a 6-for-24 mark beyond the arc.
–    Southern Miss and Old Dominion are the only two C-USA schools to have not allowed 80 points in a single game this season. It happened to the Golden Eagles in each of the last two seasons, and this current 14-game streak is a single-season best since the 2011-12 squad did so in its final 24 games.
–    Southern Miss is No. 3 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.75) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.7 pg). As for the latter category, the Black and Gold have made major improvements over the course of Sadler's tenure. The team was No. 296 in the 2014-15 season, then finished No. 245, 117 and No. 5 in 2017-18 (first time averaging less than 10 per game since the 2008-09 season).Â
–    The Golden Eagles currently rank first in C-USA for assists (17.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.8), while second in defensive field goal percentage (39.3). Griffin leads the league in that ratio (3.6) and assists (6.6), while Edwards ranks second in steals (2.1 pg). Griffin has 294 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
–    Southern Miss has three true road wins this year after having six the previous four seasons.
Players Mentioned
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