University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, December 21
Reed Green Coliseum
2 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
vs
Tougaloo
Men's Basketball Concludes Non-Conference Slate Saturday
12/20/2019 3:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The holiday break is near, and that also means the final non-conference game for the Southern Miss men's basketball team. The Golden Eagles will host Tougaloo on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
Fans unable to make it to the Coliseum can follow along with John Cox on the video steam (CUSA.tv) as well as through the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday app.
Game Notes
– Southern Miss (3-9) dropped a hard-fought, 71-65 defeat to Texas Tech on Monday night. The Red Raiders, last year's national runner-up, had defeated No. 1 Louisville in its previous game.
– The Golden Eagles need a fast start at home after struggling to do so against Southern Illinois (trailed 24-7) and North Florida (16-4), but still winning against the Salukis. The squad had a much different approach on Monday in Lubbock, taking a 9-2 lead and after surrendering a 12-11 lead, led the rest of the half for a 32-25 margin. It was the team's first intermission lead against a Division I team all year (also tied South Alabama at 38).Â
– Monday also provided an opportunity for several Golden Eagles to step up off the bench. Stevenson fouled out with 8:19 left and Leonard Harper-Baker played just six first-half minutes due to having three to his name. David McCoy and Hunter Dean each played 25-plus minutes, far and away career-highs. Stevenson, from his freshman season, has upped his average minutes from 7.7 to 21, free-throw percentage 47.4 to 62.9 and scoring from 3.3 ppg to 11.2.
– Monday also marked the first time Southern Miss had two 20-point games (LaDavius Draine with 21, Gabe Watson 20) since Draine and Tyree Griffin did so in the C-USA Quarterfinals win over Marshall. With each of those two also playing 40 minutes in Lubbock, they became the first to play an entire game since Tyree Griffin against Feb. 23 versus UAB (also an overtime battle).Â
– Jay Malone produced seven-plus assists and no turnovers for the second time this season in the SIU win. Golden Eagle greats Tyree Griffin and Cortez Edwards accomplished such a feat once apiece last season. Watson has benefited the most from the move. Since going into a more-shooting guard role for the William Carey game, the sophomore has shot 49 percent (up from 31.8) for 14.5 ppg (previously 8.8).
– Watson has shined the brightest on the biggest stages. Combining the Battle 4 Atlantis and Texas Tech contests, he has shot 52 percent (27-for-52), averaging 16.8 points and 34.5 minutes per game. He has also been 6-for-14 from three and 7-for-8 at the foul line.Â
– Southern Miss' opponent strength was No. 36 in the nation, according to the NET (formerly RPI). It includes road games at aforementioned Texas Tech, South Alabama (preseason Sun Belt favorite) as well as two versus North Florida, picked to finish third in the A-Sun. Gonzaga and Seton Hall are also expected to make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and Tulane and Iowa State have earned top-25 votes recently.
– Opponents are averaging 9.3 more free-throw attempts per game. Not only did the Golden Eagles make their final four free-throws in the deciding 26 seconds versus SIU, but they also had 20 attempts for the third time this year. By comparison, Jay Ladner's 2018-19 Southeastern Louisiana squad averaged 19.4 foul shots per contest, and that will continue to be an emphasis on his young Southern Miss squad (which is averaging 11.4).
– Tougaloo (10-3) has been highly successful the past few years, defeating Mississippi Valley State last season as well as Jackson State in 2015. The Golden Eagles have one previous meeting with the Bulldogs, winning 101-96 in double-overtime back on Opening Night of 2016. The since-departed Christopher Wallace had the last 30-point game for an opponent until South Alabama's Josh Ajayi did so on Nov. 9. Tougaloo also fell 87-68 to Louisiana Tech early last year. This year, the Bulldogs are also No. 19 in NAIA Division I with 87.7 points per game.
Fans unable to make it to the Coliseum can follow along with John Cox on the video steam (CUSA.tv) as well as through the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday app.
Game Notes
– Southern Miss (3-9) dropped a hard-fought, 71-65 defeat to Texas Tech on Monday night. The Red Raiders, last year's national runner-up, had defeated No. 1 Louisville in its previous game.
– The Golden Eagles need a fast start at home after struggling to do so against Southern Illinois (trailed 24-7) and North Florida (16-4), but still winning against the Salukis. The squad had a much different approach on Monday in Lubbock, taking a 9-2 lead and after surrendering a 12-11 lead, led the rest of the half for a 32-25 margin. It was the team's first intermission lead against a Division I team all year (also tied South Alabama at 38).Â
– Monday also provided an opportunity for several Golden Eagles to step up off the bench. Stevenson fouled out with 8:19 left and Leonard Harper-Baker played just six first-half minutes due to having three to his name. David McCoy and Hunter Dean each played 25-plus minutes, far and away career-highs. Stevenson, from his freshman season, has upped his average minutes from 7.7 to 21, free-throw percentage 47.4 to 62.9 and scoring from 3.3 ppg to 11.2.
– Monday also marked the first time Southern Miss had two 20-point games (LaDavius Draine with 21, Gabe Watson 20) since Draine and Tyree Griffin did so in the C-USA Quarterfinals win over Marshall. With each of those two also playing 40 minutes in Lubbock, they became the first to play an entire game since Tyree Griffin against Feb. 23 versus UAB (also an overtime battle).Â
– Jay Malone produced seven-plus assists and no turnovers for the second time this season in the SIU win. Golden Eagle greats Tyree Griffin and Cortez Edwards accomplished such a feat once apiece last season. Watson has benefited the most from the move. Since going into a more-shooting guard role for the William Carey game, the sophomore has shot 49 percent (up from 31.8) for 14.5 ppg (previously 8.8).
– Watson has shined the brightest on the biggest stages. Combining the Battle 4 Atlantis and Texas Tech contests, he has shot 52 percent (27-for-52), averaging 16.8 points and 34.5 minutes per game. He has also been 6-for-14 from three and 7-for-8 at the foul line.Â
– Southern Miss' opponent strength was No. 36 in the nation, according to the NET (formerly RPI). It includes road games at aforementioned Texas Tech, South Alabama (preseason Sun Belt favorite) as well as two versus North Florida, picked to finish third in the A-Sun. Gonzaga and Seton Hall are also expected to make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and Tulane and Iowa State have earned top-25 votes recently.
– Opponents are averaging 9.3 more free-throw attempts per game. Not only did the Golden Eagles make their final four free-throws in the deciding 26 seconds versus SIU, but they also had 20 attempts for the third time this year. By comparison, Jay Ladner's 2018-19 Southeastern Louisiana squad averaged 19.4 foul shots per contest, and that will continue to be an emphasis on his young Southern Miss squad (which is averaging 11.4).
– Tougaloo (10-3) has been highly successful the past few years, defeating Mississippi Valley State last season as well as Jackson State in 2015. The Golden Eagles have one previous meeting with the Bulldogs, winning 101-96 in double-overtime back on Opening Night of 2016. The since-departed Christopher Wallace had the last 30-point game for an opponent until South Alabama's Josh Ajayi did so on Nov. 9. Tougaloo also fell 87-68 to Louisiana Tech early last year. This year, the Bulldogs are also No. 19 in NAIA Division I with 87.7 points per game.
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