Southern Miss Drops First Conference USA Game at UTEP

Saturday, January 8

El Paso, TX

8:00 PM

Southern Miss

-59,11 CUSA

UTEP

-87,12 CUSA

Southern Miss.

UTEP

Southern Miss Drops First Conference USA Game at UTEP

1/8/2022 11:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

EL PASO, Texas -- UTEP's hot hand from deep proved to be the difference maker in Southern Miss' 87-54 loss in El Paso on Saturday night. The Miners knocked down a season-high 15 three-pointers, including eight in the first half.

"UTEP is a very quick and athletic basketball team - the type of team that has given us problems," said head coach Jay Ladner. "They have long, talented guards that hurt us. We just didn't seem like us tonight."

The Miners jumped to a 15-1 lead five minutes into the game, then extended its lead to 31-9 at the 6:32 mark, and then to 44-23 at the half.

Southern Miss relied on its always productive senior Tyler Stevenson, who recorded his fourth double-double this season after going for 11 points and 12 rebounds. Stevenson cut the UTEP advantage to 21 points early in the first half, but that was the closest the Golden Eagles would get after the Miners pushed it to a 28-point lead with 10 minutes left in game. The Columbus, Miss. native moved into 43^rd all-time on the Southern Miss scoring list and is now three points away from passing Robert Boothe.

Isaih Moore finished with 13 points, his most since scoring 17 against Montana on Nov. 26. The junior pulled down seven rebounds in 16 minutes of playing time before picking up a technical foul after a basket in the second half. DeAndre Pinckney added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Walyn Napper finished with eight points and two assists.

Southern Miss shot 34.5 percent from the floor and connected on just three three-point attempts. Across the floor, UTEP shot 56.1 percent from the floor and had the best shooting output of any Southern Miss opponent this season. The Golden Eagles pulled down 35 rebounds, including 13 offensive boards. The Golden Eagles reached the charity stripe 22 times, which was only the third time this season they shot at least 20 free throws and first time since going 20-of-28 against Lamar in mid-November.

Southern Miss travels to LA Tech on Thursday evening before turning around to host the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon in Hattiesburg,

Game Notes
- Head coach Jay Ladner stuck with the same starting five that won the Golden Eagles their CUSA opener. Those five were Walyn Napper, Rashad Bolden, DeAndre Pinckney, Tyler Stevenson, and Jaron Pierre, Jr.
- Southern Miss allowed a season-high 15 three-pointers and the most since allowing 11 against Louisiana on Nov. 12.
- Tyler Stevenson passed Sai'Quon Stone (2006-11) on the all-time scoring list and now has 953 career points, good for 43^rd all time.
- Southern Miss pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds for the second time this season. It had 14 against Montana on Nov. 26.