University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Reed Green Coliseum
12 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
vs
Middle Tennessee
Men's Basketball Begins Bonus Play by Hosting Middle Tennessee Saturday
2/21/2020 9:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- It will be a playoff atmosphere the next four games for Southern Miss, and it all begins Saturday when the Golden Eagles host Middle Tennessee for a 12 p.m. tip-off.
The Black and Gold currently hold the No. 11 spot in the C-USA standings (5-9), with Rice (5-9), UTEP (4-10) and Middle Tennessee (2-12) trailing. Southern Miss will play the Blue Raiders twice, as well as Rice at home and UTEP on the road to close out the season, and the top two of those four will head to Frisco for the C-USA Championships.
This game comes as part of a quadruple-header on Fourth Street. Beach Volleyball opens its season at 10 a.m., followed by baseball at 2 p.m. and Lady Eagle Basketball Senior Day at 4 p.m. Those who purchase tickets ($20 overall) to the latter three events through the attached link will receive a vintage t-shirt.
For those who cannot make it to the game, it will air on ESPN3 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
– Southern Miss reeled off a 19-0 run early on FIU, and after leading 31-24 at the half, held off a furious Panther rally. The Golden Eagles were up 70-59 with a minute left, but FIU scored eight-straight points before Southern Miss survived on a missed three-pointer and turnover in the waning seconds. Tyler Stevenson, Thursday's hero with the winning foul shots in the final 4.4 seconds, notched his fifth double-double of league play (22 points, 11 rebounds), while Gabe Watson produced 14 points and 11 assists.
– Stevenson, a walk-on last year, ranks fourth and eighth in C-USA play for rebounding (8.2 rpg) and field-goal percentage (57.2), respectively. He has scored in double-figures in all 13 home games, including 20-plus against North Florida, Rice and FIU. His 55.2 field-goal percentage for the year is tops in the league and No. 45 nationally.
– The last meeting between the two teams left a sour taste with the Golden Eagles. LaDavius Draine picked up an offensive rebound and hit a step-back, corner three to tie the game with 11 seconds left, but a foul was called on Middle Tennessee's game-winning layup attempt, and those two free-throws were the difference. Boban Jacdonmi earned his second-career double-double with 16 points and a personal-best 12 rebounds. Each team shot 20 percent from deep, but the Blue Raiders won the turnover battle, 15-9.
– This noon start is the earliest for the men's team at the Coliseum since the 2011-12 opener, a win over Spring Hill. Of the Golden Eagles' nine wins, six have been in the daytime and five were on Saturdays. Southern Miss is 7-3 in February over the last two years.
– Since Southern Miss went to a seven-man rotation on Jan. 23, four Golden Eagles are averaging 32.2 minutes or better per game. Watson leads with an incredulous 40.1, while Draine sits at 39.6 (with a team-high 18.1 ppg), and four of his nine-career, 20-point games have been in that time. Stevenson is averaging 15.4 points with 8.0 rebounds on 61.2 percent shooting. Walk-on senior Bill Muse Jr. had played 16 minutes all year, then had 13 at WKU. Jacdonmi has been a big help the last three games off the bench, averaging 5.3 points (6-for-7 from field) and 3.3 rebounds over just 14.3 mpg.
– Southern Miss held FIU to just 24 points in the first half, its best at the break this season, and to a modest 23 field goals for the game. The Panthers entered the day averaging 77.0 ppg. The Golden Eagles also won the rebounding battle 41-26, upping its three-game total to plus-32. It marked the team's best margin against a Division I team this year. The squad has also found its way to the fourth-best field-goal defense in C-USA (42.4 percent), adjusting from facing the 12th-toughest non-conference schedule according to KenPom.
– Southern Miss, in league play, is third with a 77.6 free-throw percentage (163-for-210). It was at 68.6 percent in non-conference action. The 73.6-percent clip would tie the 2011-12 NCAA tourney squad for the best in program history. The Golden Eagles went an uncharacteristic 24-for-38 (63.2 percent), but found their stroke at just the right times and allowed only 24 attempts total to come away with two wins.
– Draine has 171 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 had also made 23-straight foul shots, all in league play, before missing his second attempt on Saturday (first miss since his last against Tougaloo) to take sole possession of fifth in school history for such a streak. He has continued to diversify his game with more steals (29-20) and assists (49-26) than the previous two years combined.
The Black and Gold currently hold the No. 11 spot in the C-USA standings (5-9), with Rice (5-9), UTEP (4-10) and Middle Tennessee (2-12) trailing. Southern Miss will play the Blue Raiders twice, as well as Rice at home and UTEP on the road to close out the season, and the top two of those four will head to Frisco for the C-USA Championships.
This game comes as part of a quadruple-header on Fourth Street. Beach Volleyball opens its season at 10 a.m., followed by baseball at 2 p.m. and Lady Eagle Basketball Senior Day at 4 p.m. Those who purchase tickets ($20 overall) to the latter three events through the attached link will receive a vintage t-shirt.
These athletes want YOU to be a Golden Eagle Warrior on Saturday!
— Southern Miss🔝 (@USMGoldenEagles) February 20, 2020
Attend each of their games and earn this sweet shirt (bobblehead not included 😉)!
🎟️ https://t.co/V6w7oCmTED pic.twitter.com/xSdWul1R1f
For those who cannot make it to the game, it will air on ESPN3 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
– Southern Miss reeled off a 19-0 run early on FIU, and after leading 31-24 at the half, held off a furious Panther rally. The Golden Eagles were up 70-59 with a minute left, but FIU scored eight-straight points before Southern Miss survived on a missed three-pointer and turnover in the waning seconds. Tyler Stevenson, Thursday's hero with the winning foul shots in the final 4.4 seconds, notched his fifth double-double of league play (22 points, 11 rebounds), while Gabe Watson produced 14 points and 11 assists.
– Stevenson, a walk-on last year, ranks fourth and eighth in C-USA play for rebounding (8.2 rpg) and field-goal percentage (57.2), respectively. He has scored in double-figures in all 13 home games, including 20-plus against North Florida, Rice and FIU. His 55.2 field-goal percentage for the year is tops in the league and No. 45 nationally.
– The last meeting between the two teams left a sour taste with the Golden Eagles. LaDavius Draine picked up an offensive rebound and hit a step-back, corner three to tie the game with 11 seconds left, but a foul was called on Middle Tennessee's game-winning layup attempt, and those two free-throws were the difference. Boban Jacdonmi earned his second-career double-double with 16 points and a personal-best 12 rebounds. Each team shot 20 percent from deep, but the Blue Raiders won the turnover battle, 15-9.
– This noon start is the earliest for the men's team at the Coliseum since the 2011-12 opener, a win over Spring Hill. Of the Golden Eagles' nine wins, six have been in the daytime and five were on Saturdays. Southern Miss is 7-3 in February over the last two years.
– Since Southern Miss went to a seven-man rotation on Jan. 23, four Golden Eagles are averaging 32.2 minutes or better per game. Watson leads with an incredulous 40.1, while Draine sits at 39.6 (with a team-high 18.1 ppg), and four of his nine-career, 20-point games have been in that time. Stevenson is averaging 15.4 points with 8.0 rebounds on 61.2 percent shooting. Walk-on senior Bill Muse Jr. had played 16 minutes all year, then had 13 at WKU. Jacdonmi has been a big help the last three games off the bench, averaging 5.3 points (6-for-7 from field) and 3.3 rebounds over just 14.3 mpg.
– Southern Miss held FIU to just 24 points in the first half, its best at the break this season, and to a modest 23 field goals for the game. The Panthers entered the day averaging 77.0 ppg. The Golden Eagles also won the rebounding battle 41-26, upping its three-game total to plus-32. It marked the team's best margin against a Division I team this year. The squad has also found its way to the fourth-best field-goal defense in C-USA (42.4 percent), adjusting from facing the 12th-toughest non-conference schedule according to KenPom.
– Southern Miss, in league play, is third with a 77.6 free-throw percentage (163-for-210). It was at 68.6 percent in non-conference action. The 73.6-percent clip would tie the 2011-12 NCAA tourney squad for the best in program history. The Golden Eagles went an uncharacteristic 24-for-38 (63.2 percent), but found their stroke at just the right times and allowed only 24 attempts total to come away with two wins.
– Draine has 171 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 had also made 23-straight foul shots, all in league play, before missing his second attempt on Saturday (first miss since his last against Tougaloo) to take sole possession of fifth in school history for such a streak. He has continued to diversify his game with more steals (29-20) and assists (49-26) than the previous two years combined.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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