Men's Basketball Set for Saturday, Senior Day Battle with FIU

Saturday, February 15

Reed Green Coliseum

2 p.m. CT

Southern Miss

FIU

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Men's Basketball Set for Saturday, Senior Day Battle with FIU

2/14/2020 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Southern Miss MBB Game Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- A thrilling Thursday victory over Florida Atlantic was a great start to the weekend for Southern Miss Men's Basketball, and now the squad will look for a sweep when it hosts fourth-place FIU on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

This is the final game before C-USA bonus play determines the final four regular-season tilts (announced Sunday at 12 p.m.). This will serve as the team's Senior Day where it will honor Leonard Harper-Baker, Boban Jacdonmi, Bill Muse Jr. and Jerrod Rigby prior to tip-off. Doors open at 1 p.m., and fans can pick up Clarence Weatherspoon bobbleheads while supplies last.

🚨 THEY'RE HERE!! 🚨

Get yours Saturday while supplies last. Doors open at 1 PM, and we'll honor our seniors before the 2 PM tip-off! 🙏 #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/zcRFtqqXXp
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) February 14, 2020

Fans unable to make it can tune in to ESPN+ with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd on the call. John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, will carry the game on the Southern Miss Learfield IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday app.

Game Notes
– FAU rallied from a 63-55 deficit with 4:41 to play to tie it at 2:23. The Owls went 1-for-2 at the line to tie it with 31 seconds left, and Tyler Stevenson was fouled on an offensive rebound with 4.4 seconds left. He made both (16 points on the night), and the Owls' three-point try from the top of the key hit off the rim. LaDavius Draine recorded his second-straight double-double (the first two of his career) with 16 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds.

– Stevenson, who was 2-for-6 on the night before his game-deciding foul shots, was in a similar position on Dec. 7. In that 72-69 win over Southern Illinois, he went 2-for-2 with 26 ticks left to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good. The Thursday victory over FAU marked Southern Miss' second this season when down at the half (33-31) as well as its lowest-scoring output in a win.

– Over his last five games, Harper-Baker has left it all on the floor. He has averaged 10.6 points, 11 rebounds and 7.2 assists over 38.4 minutes, and of his eight-career games with five-plus assists, five have been in that span. Harper-Baker has 85 dimes this year (compared to 44 as a junior) while also leading the team in steals (38).

– Since Southern Miss went to a seven-man rotation on Jan. 23, four Golden Eagles are averaging 33.1 minutes or better per game. Gabe Watson leads with an incredulous 40.1, while Draine sits at 39.6 (with a team-high 18.0 ppg), and four of his nine-career, 20-point games have been in that time. Tyler Stevenson is averaging 14.4 points with 7.6 rebounds on 58.3 percent shooting. Walk-on senior Bill Muse Jr. had played 16 minutes all year, then had 13 at WKU and knocked down a three-pointer, his second of the year and first since Seton Hall.

– When the two teams met in Miami last year, the veteran-heavy Golden Eagles exploited the press with 16 points in the first four minutes. FIU remained within 47-45 at 15:28, but six dunks over the final 8:13 highlighted the strong finish. Harper-Baker went 10-for-11 from the field, which ranks as the fourth-best shooting game in school history (90.9 percent). The last Hattiesburg meeting saw walk-on D'Angelo Richardson hit a deep three in the final seconds to win 69-66 in overtime.

– But FIU has become a defensive juggernaut in both the paint and perimeter. The squad leads the country in blocks (6.8 per game), helped by national leader Osasumwen Osaghae. From deep, the Panthers are No. 2 in defense (27 percent) and No. 31 in makes per game (9.2).

– Stevenson, a walk-on last year, ranks fourth and ninth in C-USA play for rebounding (8.0 rpg) and field-goal percentage (55.2), respectively. UTEP is the only team to hold him to single-digit scoring. He has also been the team's top performer in home games, leading the team in field goals (81), attempts (134), percentage (60.4), free-throws (36), attempts (50), percentage (72.0) and overall scoring (16.5 ppg).

– Southern Miss, in league play, is tied for the lead with a 79.4 free-throw percentage (154-for-194). It was at 68.6 percent in non-conference action. The 74.3-percent clip for the year would be a program record, besting the 2011-12 NCAA Tourney squad (73.6). The Golden Eagles went 15-for-22 on Thursday compared to FAU's 7-for-10, the largest-positive difference in attempts this season. It marked the seventh time Southern Miss had more tries than its opponent (fourth against D1 foes).

– Draine has 167 three-pointers in his career, which ranks third in school history. Saturday at WKU marked the fourth time this year and sixth of his career in which he's made five treys, and it allowed him to pass Neil Watson (2011-14). Next up is Casey Fisher (1984-88) with 194. Draine has also made his last 22 foul shots, all in league play, and it leads C-USA as well (missed final attempt in Tougaloo game). It's the fifth-best streak in school history, tying Kourtlin Jackson (22) in late 2016.