Tae Hardy's 32-Point Performance Not Enough in 73-66 Defeat to FAU

Saturday, February 27

Reed Green Coliseum

4 p.m.

Southern Miss

Florida Atlantic

Tae Hardy's 32-Point Performance Not Enough in 73-66 Defeat to FAU

2/27/2021 7:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss junior guard Tae Hardy unleashed a career-high 32 points (23 in the second half), but a first-half deficit and some timely shots by Florida Atlantic were too much in a 73-66, home-finale defeat on Saturday evening.

Hardy on Monday was named C-USA's Player of the Week for recording a career-high 20 points (19 in the second) as Southern Miss rallied to defeat FIU in its only contest. This performance ranks as Southern Miss' highest-scoring game since Kourtlin Jackson's 40 at Marshall on March 5, 2016 and the most at home since Charles Gaines on Dec. 17, 2003 against Georgia Southern.

Southern Miss will next await its seeding and matchup for the Conference USA Championships (March 9-13) in Frisco, Texas.

"I may sound like a broken record, but I was proud of the way our guys came back," head coach Jay Ladner said. "Tae Hardy was exceptional in the second half and put us on his back, and we were right there to win it. Anyways, you have to make your own breaks and be more consistent. There was a stretch in the second half where we missed several free-throws that essentially were the difference in us maybe leading by a few points late."

Southern Miss, which trailed by 16 with less than 15 minutes to play, found some momentum in the second half with a Tyler Stevenson dunk, Hardy three-pointer, and a trio of free-throws by LaDavius Draine to pull within 56-52 at the six-minute mark. Hardy's three-pointer seconds after a DeAndre Pinckney block forced FAU into a timeout at 5:45, clinging to a 56-55 lead after the 15-1 run over 4:28.

The Golden Eagles tied it at 58 on another Hardy trey at 4:09 before Jaron Pierre Jr. forced the Owls out-of-bounds with solid defense. Hardy followed with another triple for a 61-60 lead at 3:07, Southern Miss' first since it was 12-10, but FAU responded with one of its own. After Pierre reclaimed the lead with a trey from the wing, FAU retaliated with two more for a 69-64 advantage in the final minute.

It was a 17-16 dogfight through the first 12 minutes before FAU's 10-0 run gave it a 27-16 advantage at 5:02, eventually becoming a 36-26 difference at the break.

NOTABLE
-Clay Weatherspoon, playing in his 46th-career game, earned his first start while also hitting his first-career three-pointer.
-Jeffery Armstrong played six minutes, his most this year against a Division I foe.
-Southern Miss had 25 free-throw attempts for the second-straight night, each tying for second-most on the season.
-The Golden Eagles also forced 23 turnovers, the most in Ladner's two-year era.