Men's Basketball Opens Homestand on Thursday With North Texas

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball (6-12, 1-4 C-USA) will host back-to-back home games for just the third time this season as the Golden Eagles prepare to open their homestand with North Texas (13-4, 6-1 C-USA) on Thursday night. Tipoff from Reed Green Coliseum in scheduled for 7 p.m. CST and will air on ESPN+.

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The Need to Know
- Southern Miss is coming into Thursday's matchup looking to shake last weekend's loss at Middle Tennessee after losing its lead late in the contest.
- Junior Tyler Stevenson continues to climb the Southern Miss scoring ranks and is now No. 36 all-time on the scoring list with 1,040 points. He's 17 points from passing Roy Danforth (1958-62).
- Stevenson has scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games and is averaging a team-best 14.2 PPG and is averaging 16.0 PPG in C-USA play.
- After averaging a career-best 7.1 RPG last season, the Columbus, Miss. native has upped his play around the rim this season with 8.4 RPG.
- Junior DeAndre Pinckney is averaging 11.8 PPG in C-USA play and has scored at least eight points in all five C-USA contests. Pinckney is averaging a career-best 5.1 RPG.
- At Middle Tennessee, sophomore Mo Arnold scored a season-best 12 points and reached double figures for the first time this season.
- Freshman Rashad Bolden has scored eight points in each of his last two games and is averaging 7.6 PPG.
- Jaron Pierre, Jr., Stevenson, and Pinckney combined for 59 points in two games against North Texas last season.
- Head coach Jay Ladner is one win shy of reaching 100 career wins between stops on Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Miss.
- Southern Miss leads the all-time series against North Texas, 22-10. The Mean Green have won the last four meetings.
- The Golden Eagles are 8-4 in the series in games played at Reed Green Coliseum.
- Thursday's game marks the fourth consecutive game played in Hattiesburg and the fifth in the last six meetings.

Scouting the Mean Green
- North Texas comes to Hattiesburg as the two-time defending C-USA Champions and upset Purdue in the NCAA Tournament last season.
- The Mean Green have held 10 of its 17 opponents to season low scoring at the time of the game and are the nation's third-best scoring defernse holding opponents to 56.4 points per game.
- North Texas has won 11 of its last 12 games and has held the 12 opponents to a combined 55.0 points per game scoring averaing. The Mean Green have knocked down twice as many three-pointers as its opponents in that stretch.
- Tyler Perry is averaging a team-high 14.3 PPG off the bench and is the No. 2 scorer in the country off the bench.
- North Texas is 3-0 on the road this season and has never opened the season 4-0 on the road.
- Freshman Aaron Scott has been the named the C-USA Player of the Week three times this seen and was picked up the honor on Monday after grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds in the win over Charlotte.
- North Texas has not trailed in a game since falling behind in the first half at Western Kentucky on Jan. 15.
- Fifth-year player Thomas Bell is averaging 12.0 PPG and 7.0 RPG, the most amongst North Texas starters.

The Road Ahead
- Southern Miss will continue its homestand on Saturday when Rice travels to Hattiesburg for a 2 p.m. CST tip.
- The Golden Eagles head to FIU and FAU next week on their annual Florida swing.

Follow Along
- Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd will be on the call for ESPN+.
- John Cox will be live on Southern Miss radio affiliates of Learfield.
- Follow @SouthernMissMBB on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Men's Basketball Opens Homestand on Thursday With North Texas

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Players Mentioned

Mo Arnold

Rashad Bolden

Jaron Pierre, Jr.

DeAndre Pinckney

Tyler Stevenson