Tuesday, November 22
Cancun, Mexico
2 PM
Southern Miss
5-0,0-0Sun Belt
77
vs
52
Winthrop
2-4,0-0Big South
1
2
F
Southern Miss.
30
47
77
Winthrop
34
18
52
Men's Basketball Secures Win Over Winthrop at Cancun Challenge
11/22/2022 7:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CANCUN, Mexico -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team opened the Cancun Challenge with a 77-52 win over Winthrop (2-4, 0-0 Big South) on Tuesday afternoon at the Hard Rock Hotel Riveira May. Southern Miss (5-0, 0-0 SBC) is off to its first 5-0 start since the 2010-11 season and have a chance to take home the title when it takes on Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday at 2 p.m. CST.
Austin Crowley had another performance for the ages, finishing with 22 points and six steals. This came after dropping a career-high 25 points at Liberty last Friday. Over his last two games, the West Point native is averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 steals and 3.0 assists. His six steals today were the most by a Golden Eagle since Leonard Harper-Baker had five at Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2019.
The Golden Eagle defense got off to a smothering start en route to holding Winthrop scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Denijay Harris got the offense going and then Felipe Haase put the Black and Gold up 6-0 with a little over three minutes played. Winthrop punched back to take a six-point lead at the 10:54 mark before Nico Aguirre stole the show.
Aguirre knocked down his first three-pointer as a Golden Eagle after a little hesitation, then knocked down another a minute later to swing the advantage back to Southern Miss. He then took an outlet pass from DeAndre Pinckney for an easy layup to make it a three-point lead. The Chilean product finished with eight points in 14 minutes.
Winthrop took advantage of Southern Miss' shooting struggles late in the half to take a four-point advantage into the locker room. However, that would be the last time the Eagles felt any momentum go their way the rest of the game. That's when Crowley took over and helped deliver some swagger to the Golden Eagle bench.
Crowley scored 19 second half points, including three thunderous dunks that did all the talking that was needed. The Golden Eagles used a 17-4 run in the second half to pull away before sealing a 25-point win. Tyler Morman came off the bench to provide a spark against and finished with seven points over the final 20 minutes. The big man finished a big and-one to move the lead to 11 with a hair over 8:30 left on the clock.
Southern Miss held the Eagles to 3-of-16 from the floor in the second half, while most of their scoring came from the 11 free throws they cashed in on. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles went 19-of-28 from the floor in the second half and 30-of-62 for the game. Harris added 10 points in the second half to finish with 12.
Winthrop went scoreless over the final six minutes and had 10 points over the final 13 minutes. The Golden Eagles forced 22 turnovers and finished with 13 steals. They have recorded 10-plus steals in each of the first five games this season and Crowley leads the squad with 17.
Haase finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Pinckney finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Eagles will take on Purdue Fort Wayne (3-2, 0-0 Horizon) in the Mayan Division Championship tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST. The game will be available to stream on FloHoops.com.
Game Notes
- Austin Crowley's six steals were the most by a Golden Eagle since Leonard Harper-Baker had five at Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2019
- Crowley 19 points in the second half outscored the entire Winthrop team over the final 20 minutes
- Southern Miss has recorded 10-plus turnovers in each of its first five games
- It was just the seventh win after trailing at halftime under Jay Ladner
- Southern Miss has won four of its five games this season by double digits
Austin Crowley had another performance for the ages, finishing with 22 points and six steals. This came after dropping a career-high 25 points at Liberty last Friday. Over his last two games, the West Point native is averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 steals and 3.0 assists. His six steals today were the most by a Golden Eagle since Leonard Harper-Baker had five at Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2019.
The Golden Eagle defense got off to a smothering start en route to holding Winthrop scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Denijay Harris got the offense going and then Felipe Haase put the Black and Gold up 6-0 with a little over three minutes played. Winthrop punched back to take a six-point lead at the 10:54 mark before Nico Aguirre stole the show.
Aguirre knocked down his first three-pointer as a Golden Eagle after a little hesitation, then knocked down another a minute later to swing the advantage back to Southern Miss. He then took an outlet pass from DeAndre Pinckney for an easy layup to make it a three-point lead. The Chilean product finished with eight points in 14 minutes.
Winthrop took advantage of Southern Miss' shooting struggles late in the half to take a four-point advantage into the locker room. However, that would be the last time the Eagles felt any momentum go their way the rest of the game. That's when Crowley took over and helped deliver some swagger to the Golden Eagle bench.
Crowley scored 19 second half points, including three thunderous dunks that did all the talking that was needed. The Golden Eagles used a 17-4 run in the second half to pull away before sealing a 25-point win. Tyler Morman came off the bench to provide a spark against and finished with seven points over the final 20 minutes. The big man finished a big and-one to move the lead to 11 with a hair over 8:30 left on the clock.
Southern Miss held the Eagles to 3-of-16 from the floor in the second half, while most of their scoring came from the 11 free throws they cashed in on. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles went 19-of-28 from the floor in the second half and 30-of-62 for the game. Harris added 10 points in the second half to finish with 12.
Winthrop went scoreless over the final six minutes and had 10 points over the final 13 minutes. The Golden Eagles forced 22 turnovers and finished with 13 steals. They have recorded 10-plus steals in each of the first five games this season and Crowley leads the squad with 17.
Haase finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Pinckney finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Eagles will take on Purdue Fort Wayne (3-2, 0-0 Horizon) in the Mayan Division Championship tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST. The game will be available to stream on FloHoops.com.
Game Notes
- Austin Crowley's six steals were the most by a Golden Eagle since Leonard Harper-Baker had five at Southern Illinois on Dec. 7, 2019
- Crowley 19 points in the second half outscored the entire Winthrop team over the final 20 minutes
- Southern Miss has recorded 10-plus turnovers in each of its first five games
- It was just the seventh win after trailing at halftime under Jay Ladner
- Southern Miss has won four of its five games this season by double digits
Team Stats
USM
Win
FG%
.484
.342
3FG%
.368
.263
FT%
.667
.778
RB
34
30
TO
10
22
STL
13
3
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
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