Southern Miss Begins C-USA Play at Home Friday, Saturday Against UTEP

Friday, January 1

Reed Green Coliseum

7 p.m.

Southern Miss

UTEP

Southern Miss Begins C-USA Play at Home Friday, Saturday Against UTEP

12/31/2020 12:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss.-- The Golden Eagle men's basketball team will look to maintain its momentum into its first C-USA tests this weekend as it hosts UTEP Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.) inside Reed Green Coliseum.

No tickets are available for either contest, but it will be carried on ESPN Plus with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd on the call, as well as with John Cox on the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel).

The Rundown
– Southern Miss enters C-USA play on a three-game win streak, its best in head coach Jay Ladner's brief tenure. This weekend will prove to be the team's biggest challenge yet, facing a UTEP team that routed Arizona State earlier in the year and on back-to-back days, the first-such occurrence in program history since San Francisco played in the Coliseum Dec. 10-11, 1969. The Golden Eagles also played at UTEP back-to-back days in January 1967, a year after the Glory Road, national-title run.

Last Time Out, Scoring Milestones
– The Golden Eagles' win over Loyola saw two interesting storylines: Ladner coaching against his son, Luke, and LaDavius Draine scoring 21 points to become the 38th member of the school's 1,000-point club. He also passed Casey Fisher for sole possession for second-place on the all-time three-pointer list with 199. Bernard Haslett (1990-94) leads with 316. Draine (1,005 points) is one away from Berlin Ladner (1965-68), 21 from Glenn Mason (1972-75) and 26 from Craig Craft (2005-09) for the No. 35 spot. Draine started this season 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from deep but has since gone 17-for-35 (48.6).

The Series
– The home team has won 11-straight games in this series, dating back to a Golden Eagle win in the 2014 C-USA Championships that was later vacated. UTEP won 76-64 on Jan. 9 and 75-56 on March 1. The first matchup saw Southern Miss lead with 8:21 left before falling to a 12-1 run, including a 34-for-37 mark on free-throws, three makes shy of the opponent record. The Miners controlled the second matchup from the start.

Emerging Newcomer
– Tae Hardy's last four games have been some of his best. He came off the bench for the first time against South Alabama, and his eight assists and no turnovers in that game have him as one of 23 in the country this year to do so against a Division I opponent. He is also 12-for-24 from the field (13.3 ppg) over the last three games while making 16 of his last 17 free-throws (began the year 3-for-8).

Foreshadowing
– A fast start in Saturday's game would be key to the team's success. Eleven of Ladner's 13 wins have come when leading or tied at the half. In two of the Golden Eagles' defeats this year, it trailed 21-9 and 22-9 to Jacksonville and Tulane, respectively. Against South Alabama, in which Southern Miss did lead for 33:29 before ultimately falling, it started 16-6. The Black and Gold reeled off a 14-0 run against Lamar to lead 24-9 and a 10-0 one versus ULM in the opening minutes.

Shooting
– Over its three-game win streak, Southern Miss has held opponents to 34.4 percent shooting, compared to 43.7 percent over the first four. Carrying over to the charity stripe, the Golden Eagles are 72.2 percent at the foul line in those last three (46.6 percent prior). South Alabama (31 points) is the only team all year to have more than 27 at halftime.

Crashing the Boards
– Rebounding has been a story of the season. Southern Miss boasts a plus-4.6 margin, which is fifth in C-USA. Its 21 offensive rebounds in the opener were its most since the 2015-16 opener at Memphis. Last year's team was plus-1.7. Columbus natives and longtime friends Tyler Stevenson (7.7 rpg) and Denijay Harris (7.4) rank sixth and eighth in C-USA, respectively.

Harris and Pinckney in the Post
– Harris has surpassed double-digit rebounding three times this year, all Golden Eagle wins. He is one of six in the country to have a 10-rebound game with one or no points, doing so against Loyola. His 26 minutes also marked a team-high, surpassing Hardy by 22 seconds. Fellow big DeAndre Pinckney also played a season-high 15 minutes as he returns from his concussion.

More on the Matchup
– UTEP also ranks third in three-point defense (28.1 percent) with Southern Miss right behind at 30.7. The Miners held Arizona State to 1-for-18 and most recently played on Dec. 20 before their Monday game against Our Lady of the Lake was canceled. The Golden Eagles' 59.6 ppg allowed is 20th nationally, down from 72.3 last year. Southern Miss led by as much as 50 in UTEP's last trip to Hattiesburg (Feb. 16, 2019), but has gone from 8-21 to 17-15 and now 4-2 under Rodney Terry's direction.