Men's Basketball Welcomes Back 1987 NIT Title Team, Hosting Southern Illinois Saturday

Saturday, December 7

Reed Green Coliseum

2 p.m. CT

Southern Miss

Southern Illinois

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Men's Basketball Welcomes Back 1987 NIT Title Team, Hosting Southern Illinois Saturday

12/6/2019 12:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Golden Eagle homestand continues Saturday with a trip down memory lane. Southern Miss will honor its 1987 NIT Championship team, for which first-year head coach Jay Ladner was a member of, at halftime against Southern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT.

Coached by the late M.K. Turk, the 1986-87 squad went 23-11 and defeated Ole Miss, St. Louis, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and La Salle on its historic run to New York's Madison Square Garden.

The game will be carried on CUSA.tv and the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) with John Cox on the call for both.

Game Notes
– Southern Miss dropped a 61-56 decision to Tulane on Wednesday night. It trailed by 10 with just over a minute left and got within 57-54 in the final 16 seconds. The Golden Eagles forced 19 turnovers, its most against a Division I team this season, but Tulane also had 17 more free-throw attempts to make up for its 5-for-21 mark from deep.

– The incredibly-young Southern Miss squad found even more help from its bench against the Green Wave. Freshman Angel Smith, playing in just his third game, produced career-highs of eight points and three rebounds. David McCoy, a walk-on junior college transfer, went 2-for-2 from the field after seeing his playing time increase dramatically in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Auston Leslie came out pistols firing in the late rally, sinking back-to-back corner threes after having just two shot attempts all year.

– In that contest with the Green Wave, 43 of the team's 56 points came from freshmen and sophomores. As for the road game at Iowa State, 136 of the game's 200 minutes were played by the lowerclassmen. Southern Miss has utilized five different lineups in its nine games; primarily based on strategy with one exception for injury.

– Southern Miss was without the services of Boban Jacdonmi due to injury. He leads the team in scoring (12.4 ppg), field goal percentage (61.4) and is second in rebounds (6.4). It did pave the way for Tyler Stevenson to earn his second-career start (previously against No. 7 Gonzaga), and he led the team with 10 points and nine rebounds. The former walk-on now has eight double-digit scoring games (including three-straight contests) in his career. He has produced career-highs in boards and minutes in each of the last two games as well.

– Leonard Harper-Baker, who has played the four-spot his two years in Hattiesburg, is now 19th in the nation with 21 steals (three less than his total last year). He is one of only four forwards in the top-50 for that category. He is shooting 50-plus percent for the second-straight season and is averaging three more minutes per game.

– Entering Saturday, Southern Miss' Division I opponents have boasted a combined record of 41-18. It includes road games at South Alabama (preseason Sun Belt favorite) as well as 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 is off to a 7-1 start with a vote in the top-25.

– The free-throw line has not been of high activity for the Black and Gold, getting just 90 attempts so far this season (fewest in C-USA). Southern Miss has maintained a 70 percent mark when its gotten there. The Golden Eagles have been held to seven or less attempts in five games, but did break through for 20 against Alabama. Contrary to the norm, it has been Jacdonmi (the starting center) who has posted the best shooting from the charity stripe, leading the team in makes (13) and percentage (72.2).

– SIU so far has played for lower scores, outscoring its opponents 64-62 on average this year (ranking 50th nationally on defense). It also defeated C-USA foe UTSA, 72-60, in Florida this year after leading by as much as 20. It presents back-to-back stout defensive teams coming into the Coliseum. Tulane utilized a unique matchup-zone strategy that was forcing 10 steals per game. Southern Miss did, however, improve its shooting percentage from 31 to 43.8 percent in the second half.

– Southern Illinois most recently defeated Norfolk State 76-59 on Wednesday. The Salukis are the first Missouri Valley Conference team to visit Hattiesburg since Bradley on Dec. 21, 2005. Bryan Mullins is in his first year at his alma mater and is a member of the school's Hall of Fame for his standout career. Connor Wheeler, the team's Director of Player Development, served as Southern Miss' video coordinator last season.