Golden Eagles Set to Tangle With NAIA's Best

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss (4-5, 0-0 CUSA) men's basketball team returns to Reed Green Coliseum on Saturday to host NAIA power Loyola New Orleans (13-0, 3-0 SSAC). Tip is set for 2 p.m. Streaming for the contest is available on CUSA.tv.

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The Need to Know
The Golden Eagles return home for the first time since Nov. 21 after playing its last five games on the road. In that stretch, Southern Miss grabbed wins over UNC Wilmington and UC San Diego. The Golden Eagles have dropped three consecutive games, including a 66-41 loss to Southern Illinois in their last outing. Despite the tough stretch, sophomore Walyn Napper has found his stride over the last four games after averaging 2.4 points and 3.8 assists per game through the first five games. Over the last four, Napper has averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 assists. Junior Tyler Stevenson has continued to play at a high level, scoring at least 10 points in five of his last six games. Stevenson hauled in a career-high 14 rebounds last Saturday against the Salukis to go along with nine points.

Junior Isaih Moore has played a key role for Southern Miss at the forward position. The 6-foot-10 forward has scored in double figures eight times this season and has three double-doubles to his name. The Columbia, S.C. native is averaging a team-best 13.1 points per game. Freshman Jaron Pierre, Jr. added six points in his last outing, making two three-pointers.

Southern Miss beat Loyola New Orleans in a late-December contest last season, 74-54, at Reed Green Coliseum. Redshirt sophomore Denijay Harris had a game-high 10 rebounds and Pierre went 4-of-9 from the field for eight points. Stevenson added nine points and eight rebounds.

Scouting the Wolf Pack
Loyola New Orleans is the No. 2 team in the NAIA polls, but will presumably be the No. 1 team in the country next week after Oklahoma Wesleyan fell earlier this week. The Wolf Pack are led by Zach Wrightsil, a 6-foot-7 guard that is averaging 16.4 points per game and 8.5 rebounds. Brandon Davis, Andrew Fava, and Myles Burns are all averaging at least 11 points per game. Fava is averaging 3.3 three-pointers per game and Davis is shooting 44.9 percent from deep.

The Wolf Pack are 1-0 against Division I teams, beating New Orleans, 80-72. Wrightsil went for 26 points and 12 rebounds in the comeback win. Burns added 18 points and seven rebounds, and Davis added 11 points and seven rebounds. Luke Ladner, the son of Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner, is on the Loyola New Orleans team. The younger Ladner scored three points against the Golden Eagles last season and is averaging 6.5 minutes per game this season.

Golden Eagle Notes
- Junior Tyler Stevenson is coming off a career night last Saturday, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds at Southern Illinois.
- Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner will square off against his son, Luke, for the second-straight season.
- Junior Isaih Moore has scored in double figures eight times this season and scored less than 10 points for the first time when he had seven at Southern Illinois.
- The Golden Eagles' 27.3 defensive rebounds per game ranks fifth in C-USA and Stevenson's 9.0 rebounds per game ranks third in the conference.
- Moore ranks second in C-USA in field goal percentage, shooting 56.8 percent from the floor.
- Southern Miss leads the all-time series against Loyola, 16-13, and have won the last four dating back to 2008.

Golden Eagles Set to Tangle With NAIA's Best

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Players Mentioned

Denijay Harris

Isaih Moore

Walyn Napper

Jaron Pierre, Jr.

Tyler Stevenson