Men's Basketball Continues Texas Road Swing Saturday at UTSA
1/10/2020 12:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Fresh off an early-morning flight from El Paso, the Southern Miss men's basketball team is at its home-base in Central Texas as it prepares for Saturday's 3 p.m. matchup at UTSA.
The game can be found on ESPN3 with Lincoln Rose and Jim Haller on the call. John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, will carry the game on the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday app.
Game Notes
– Southern Miss dropped a 76-64 decision to UTEP on Thursday night, the 10th consecutive win by the home team in the series. After a 30-28 halftime deficit, there were eight lead changes and six ties through the first 12 minutes before UTEP went on a 12-1 run that separated the game. The Miners went 34-for-37 at the foul line, three makes shy of the Southern Miss opponent record.
– Gabe Watson matched a career-high of 20 points for the second-straight contest. He also had 20 at Texas Tech. He has scored 18-plus points six times this year, with five of them coming away from home. He is the first Golden Eagle with back-to-back 20-point games since Tyree Griffin during C-USA bonus play last season. Walk-on David McCoy added a career-high eight points off the bench, including going 5-for-6 in his charity stripe debut.
– Despite the Golden Eagles coming up short on Thursday, it bears noting that last year's team started 0-3 before ultimately finishing tied for second in C-USA. They were the third team since 2010 to earn a bye in the tournament despite having such a start.
– Leonard Harper-Baker is No. 4 in C-USA for rebounding with 7.6 per game. He was the team leader last year with 8.0 per contest and has produced five games with double-figure boards this season (14 for his two-year career). The redshirt-senior is also tied for 46th nationally with 31 steals, one of five forwards in the top-50. LaDavius Draine is now tied with Jimmie Floyd (1994-98) in school history for career-three-point makes with 143 and tied a career-high seven against Tougaloo.
– Out of Southern Miss' nine road/neutral games, Watson leads the way with 15.0 ppg in 33.4 mpg. The Golden Eagles are shooting 41.6 percent, while opponents are at 46.2. Last year's squad was a combined 9-10 away from Hattiesburg.  Since going into a more-shooting guard role for the William Carey game (Nov. 24), the sophomore has shot 46.8 percent (up from 31.8) for 15.3 ppg (previously 8.8).
– Southern Miss won both games against UTSA last year, the first a 78-71 decision on Valentine's Day. The Golden Eagles overcame a sluggish start to outscore UTSA 53-23 over the middle 20 minutes for its fifth-straight win and eighth in the last 10. The two squads met again in the regular-season finale, with Southern Miss' Senior Day spirit fueling it to an 81-48 victory that secured a C-USA tourney bye. Southern Miss hit 16 three-pointers while holding UTSA to its fewest points in 80 games.
– The Roadrunners lead C-USA with 158 three-pointers while boasting two of the league's top three scorers in Jhivvan Jackson (26.0 ppg) and Keaton Wallace (16.7). Jackson scored 37 against a stout Louisiana Tech defense on Thursday. The Golden Eagles' silver lining in Thursday's loss was allowing a season-low 17.4 three-point percentage (4-for-23) which it will to replicate Saturday.
– Opponents are averaging 8.3 more free-throw attempts per game. Southern Miss has four games of 20-plus tries this year, and are 33-for-40 in three league games (82.5 percent). 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 13.3).
– The home team has won all 11 meetings (first Southern Miss win vacated), dating back to the 2013-14 season. Only Draine and Clay Weatherspoon have stepped foot in the Convocation Center, as teammates Harper-Baker and Boban Jacdonmi were redshirting the 2017-18 season.Â
The game can be found on ESPN3 with Lincoln Rose and Jim Haller on the call. John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, will carry the game on the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday app.
Game Notes
– Southern Miss dropped a 76-64 decision to UTEP on Thursday night, the 10th consecutive win by the home team in the series. After a 30-28 halftime deficit, there were eight lead changes and six ties through the first 12 minutes before UTEP went on a 12-1 run that separated the game. The Miners went 34-for-37 at the foul line, three makes shy of the Southern Miss opponent record.
– Gabe Watson matched a career-high of 20 points for the second-straight contest. He also had 20 at Texas Tech. He has scored 18-plus points six times this year, with five of them coming away from home. He is the first Golden Eagle with back-to-back 20-point games since Tyree Griffin during C-USA bonus play last season. Walk-on David McCoy added a career-high eight points off the bench, including going 5-for-6 in his charity stripe debut.
– Despite the Golden Eagles coming up short on Thursday, it bears noting that last year's team started 0-3 before ultimately finishing tied for second in C-USA. They were the third team since 2010 to earn a bye in the tournament despite having such a start.
– Leonard Harper-Baker is No. 4 in C-USA for rebounding with 7.6 per game. He was the team leader last year with 8.0 per contest and has produced five games with double-figure boards this season (14 for his two-year career). The redshirt-senior is also tied for 46th nationally with 31 steals, one of five forwards in the top-50. LaDavius Draine is now tied with Jimmie Floyd (1994-98) in school history for career-three-point makes with 143 and tied a career-high seven against Tougaloo.
– Out of Southern Miss' nine road/neutral games, Watson leads the way with 15.0 ppg in 33.4 mpg. The Golden Eagles are shooting 41.6 percent, while opponents are at 46.2. Last year's squad was a combined 9-10 away from Hattiesburg.  Since going into a more-shooting guard role for the William Carey game (Nov. 24), the sophomore has shot 46.8 percent (up from 31.8) for 15.3 ppg (previously 8.8).
– Southern Miss won both games against UTSA last year, the first a 78-71 decision on Valentine's Day. The Golden Eagles overcame a sluggish start to outscore UTSA 53-23 over the middle 20 minutes for its fifth-straight win and eighth in the last 10. The two squads met again in the regular-season finale, with Southern Miss' Senior Day spirit fueling it to an 81-48 victory that secured a C-USA tourney bye. Southern Miss hit 16 three-pointers while holding UTSA to its fewest points in 80 games.
– The Roadrunners lead C-USA with 158 three-pointers while boasting two of the league's top three scorers in Jhivvan Jackson (26.0 ppg) and Keaton Wallace (16.7). Jackson scored 37 against a stout Louisiana Tech defense on Thursday. The Golden Eagles' silver lining in Thursday's loss was allowing a season-low 17.4 three-point percentage (4-for-23) which it will to replicate Saturday.
– Opponents are averaging 8.3 more free-throw attempts per game. Southern Miss has four games of 20-plus tries this year, and are 33-for-40 in three league games (82.5 percent). 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 13.3).
– The home team has won all 11 meetings (first Southern Miss win vacated), dating back to the 2013-14 season. Only Draine and Clay Weatherspoon have stepped foot in the Convocation Center, as teammates Harper-Baker and Boban Jacdonmi were redshirting the 2017-18 season.Â
Players Mentioned
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