Sunday, December 18
Reed Green Coliseum
2 PM
Southern Miss
11-1,0-0Sun Belt
86
vs
67
McNeese State
3-9,0-0Southland
1
2
F
McNeese
35
32
67
Southern Miss.
42
44
86
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Golden Eagles Wrangle Cowboys to Notch 11th Win
12/18/2022 5:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Eleven. That's the number of wins the Southern Miss (11-1, 0-0 SBC) men's basketball team has after Sunday's 86-67 win over McNeese (3-9, 0-0 SBC) at Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles are off to the third 11-1 start in program history.
"That was a hard-fought game and it was a good game," said Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner. "I'd rather play a tough game like that as you head into the holiday break instead of scheduling someone that's not as competitive and possibly get into some bad habits and create a false sense of security. It didn't seem like it was a 19-point win, so I give McNeese credit there."
Southern Miss received a big game from Mo Arnold who had not reached double figures in scoring until tonight. The Picayune product scored eight of Southern Miss' first 15 points before finishing with 14. The point guard dished out a career-high eight assists to go along with the seven rebounds he pulled down.
Fortunately for Southern Miss, it wasn't just Arnold who produced at a high level in the non-conference home finale. Felipe Haase and DeAndre Pinckney went bucket-for-bucket for the second-straight came as they finished with 19 points and 18 points, respectively,
The Golden Eagle offense struggled handling the ball in the first half as they had 10 turnovers. The shaky play allowed for McNeese to withstand a couple of Southern Miss runs, including one that put the Black and Gold up 11 at the halfway mark. The Cowboys were able to capitalize on the Southern Miss errors and cut the deficit to two less than four minutes later.
"You could tell early on that their scouting report was to back off [Mo] and let him shoot. He missed his first couple shots, but we told him to keep shooting until we tell you to quit shooting," Ladner said. "We tried to instill some confidence because we need him. He got better and better, and in the second half he started attacking the basket. I was glad to see him have such a good game."
However, the momentum swung back to the Golden Eagles after they ended the opening frame on an 8-2 run. Pinckney knocked down back-to-back three-pointers before Jeffery Armstrong released a beautiful floater with six seconds left on the clock.
Arnold was the only Southern Miss scorer in double figures at the half. He shot 40 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes, while the Golden Eagles shot 42.1 percent as a team. More importantly, they shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the arc.
McNeese held around in the second half and never trailed by more than 11 until the 8:06 mark. At that point, Southern Miss erupted for a 12-0 run that turned an eight-point lead into a 20-point advantage. Crowley threw down a monster dunk during that stretch that blow the roof off The Greenhouse – the dunk made it 68-56.
The game was all but over at that point. The Cowboys cut it to 14, but Pinckney was having none of that and put the Southland Conference school to sleep when he drove the baseline and hammered home a huge dunk. Haase put the icing on the cake with a three-pointer with 35 seconds left and then all Ladner's team had to do was dribble out the clock after Donovan Ivory grabbed a defensive rebound.
Ivory came off the bench to chip in 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and Crowley finished with 14. It was the first time five guys finished in double figures since the Lamar game during the 2021 season.
Pinckney finished one rebound shy of a double-double and also handed out four assists. Crowley added four assists to the 22 total Southern Miss had. The Golden Eagles hit 14 three-pointers for the second consecutive game and now have at least 10 triples in their last three games.
McNeese received a game-high 21 points from Zach Scott and nine rebounds from Christian Shumate. The loss dropped the Cowboys to 3-9.
Up Next
Southern Miss will head to the Sin City on Thursday, Dec. 22 to play UNLV. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CST and 9 p.m. local time in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Game Notes
- Jay Ladner went with the same starting five for the fifth consecutive game as the fourth-year Southern Miss coach tabbed Tyler Morman, Austin Crowley, Mo Arnold, DeAndre Pinckney and Felipe Haase as his five
- Mo Arnold surpassed his previous season-high points total in the first six minutes as he had eight quick points
- Arnold finished with a career-high eight assists
- Southern Miss is off the third 11-1 start in program history and the first since the 1990-91 season
- Southern Miss had five players in double figures for the first time since Nov. 21, 21 against Lamar
"That was a hard-fought game and it was a good game," said Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner. "I'd rather play a tough game like that as you head into the holiday break instead of scheduling someone that's not as competitive and possibly get into some bad habits and create a false sense of security. It didn't seem like it was a 19-point win, so I give McNeese credit there."
Southern Miss received a big game from Mo Arnold who had not reached double figures in scoring until tonight. The Picayune product scored eight of Southern Miss' first 15 points before finishing with 14. The point guard dished out a career-high eight assists to go along with the seven rebounds he pulled down.
Fortunately for Southern Miss, it wasn't just Arnold who produced at a high level in the non-conference home finale. Felipe Haase and DeAndre Pinckney went bucket-for-bucket for the second-straight came as they finished with 19 points and 18 points, respectively,
The Golden Eagle offense struggled handling the ball in the first half as they had 10 turnovers. The shaky play allowed for McNeese to withstand a couple of Southern Miss runs, including one that put the Black and Gold up 11 at the halfway mark. The Cowboys were able to capitalize on the Southern Miss errors and cut the deficit to two less than four minutes later.
"You could tell early on that their scouting report was to back off [Mo] and let him shoot. He missed his first couple shots, but we told him to keep shooting until we tell you to quit shooting," Ladner said. "We tried to instill some confidence because we need him. He got better and better, and in the second half he started attacking the basket. I was glad to see him have such a good game."
However, the momentum swung back to the Golden Eagles after they ended the opening frame on an 8-2 run. Pinckney knocked down back-to-back three-pointers before Jeffery Armstrong released a beautiful floater with six seconds left on the clock.
Arnold was the only Southern Miss scorer in double figures at the half. He shot 40 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes, while the Golden Eagles shot 42.1 percent as a team. More importantly, they shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the arc.
McNeese held around in the second half and never trailed by more than 11 until the 8:06 mark. At that point, Southern Miss erupted for a 12-0 run that turned an eight-point lead into a 20-point advantage. Crowley threw down a monster dunk during that stretch that blow the roof off The Greenhouse – the dunk made it 68-56.
The game was all but over at that point. The Cowboys cut it to 14, but Pinckney was having none of that and put the Southland Conference school to sleep when he drove the baseline and hammered home a huge dunk. Haase put the icing on the cake with a three-pointer with 35 seconds left and then all Ladner's team had to do was dribble out the clock after Donovan Ivory grabbed a defensive rebound.
Ivory came off the bench to chip in 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and Crowley finished with 14. It was the first time five guys finished in double figures since the Lamar game during the 2021 season.
Pinckney finished one rebound shy of a double-double and also handed out four assists. Crowley added four assists to the 22 total Southern Miss had. The Golden Eagles hit 14 three-pointers for the second consecutive game and now have at least 10 triples in their last three games.
McNeese received a game-high 21 points from Zach Scott and nine rebounds from Christian Shumate. The loss dropped the Cowboys to 3-9.
Up Next
Southern Miss will head to the Sin City on Thursday, Dec. 22 to play UNLV. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CST and 9 p.m. local time in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Game Notes
- Jay Ladner went with the same starting five for the fifth consecutive game as the fourth-year Southern Miss coach tabbed Tyler Morman, Austin Crowley, Mo Arnold, DeAndre Pinckney and Felipe Haase as his five
- Mo Arnold surpassed his previous season-high points total in the first six minutes as he had eight quick points
- Arnold finished with a career-high eight assists
- Southern Miss is off the third 11-1 start in program history and the first since the 1990-91 season
- Southern Miss had five players in double figures for the first time since Nov. 21, 21 against Lamar
Team Stats
McN
USM
FG%
.383
.455
3FG%
.333
.438
FT%
.722
.706
RB
35
43
TO
15
14
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballSouthern Miss-Alabama State Highlights - 12/05/24
Friday, December 06
MBB: Southern Miss vs. Loyola New Orleans Highlights
Wednesday, November 13
Postgame Highlights - Southern Miss vs. Xavier (La.)
Wednesday, March 06
La Familia Special Edition
Thursday, January 11