Southern Miss Opens Four-Game Home Stint with WKU Monday Night

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss will open a four-game home stint on Monday night when it hosts Western Kentucky in a Valentine's Day showdown at Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles (6-17, 1-9 C-USA) will tip against the Hilltoppers (14-11, 6-6 C-USA) at 7 p.m. CST.

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Follow Along
- Monday (7 p.m.) - ESPN+, with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd
- John Cox will carry the game on the Southern Miss Learfield Sports Network (Roc, 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday App.
- Follow @SouthernMissMBB on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates.

The Need to Know
- Southern Miss is coming off an 84-63 loss at UAB on Thursday night. The 21-point loss came after the two teams were tied at 37-all at halftime before the Blazers went on to shooting 58.6 percent in the final 20 minutes.
- Prior to going scoreless against UAB, Jaron Pierre, Jr. was averaging 23.0 ppg over his last three games and went for a career-high 29 points against Rice on Jan. 29. Pierre scored 21 at FIU, and then added 19 at FAU.
- Tyler Stevenson is 32^nd all-time on the Southern Miss scoring list with 1,124 points. He trails former teammate LaDavius Draine (2017-21) by nine points.
- The Golden Eagles continued to take care of the ball on Thursday night, turning it over only nine times. The Black and Gold posted a season-low seven turnovers against Rice, and nine against FIU.
- Stevenson leads all Golden Eagles in scoring at 14.8 ppg and 16.4 ppg in C-USA games. Isaih Moore (10.6) and Jaron Pierre, Jr. (10.3) join Stevenson in double-figure scoring.
- DeAndre Pinckney is averaging 11.2 ppg in C-USA games and went for 12 points at UAB.
- Stevenson (7.8) and Moore (6.0) lead all Golden Eagles in rebounding.
- Stevenson ranks second in C-USA and 36^th nationally with 6.36 defensive rebounds per game.
- Stevenson's 51.4 percent shooting clip is the second-best in C-USA and trails only Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Lofton, Jr. (54.8 percent).
- Head coach Jay Ladner in one win shy of reaching 100 career wins between his time at Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Miss.

Scouting the Hilltoppers
- WKU's 71-65 win at UTSA on Saturday afternoon was the fourth-straight win for Rick Stansbury's team and now sit at 14-11.
- The Hilltoppers lead the country in fewest fouls per game (12.0) and fifth in total blocks (143). They average 6.0 blocks per game, while Jamarion Sharp is averaging 4.5 per game.
- At 7-foot-5, Sharp is the tallest player in college basketball. He has 108 total blocks and 66 dunks -- both lead the nation.
- Dayvion McKnight is the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals per game this year.
- McKnight, who earned Conference USA Player of the Week on Nov. 15, ranks seventh nationally with 149 total assists.
- McKnight is leading all Hilltoppers at 15.0 ppg. Three other Hilltoppers are averaging at least 10 ppg -- Camron Justice (14.1), Jairus Hamilton (13.3) and Josh Anderson (12.9).
- Sharp and McKnight are two of 15 players in the country to record a triple-double this season.
- Stansbury, in his sixth season at WKU, is 117-71 at the helm of the Hilltoppers.
- Western Kentucky is 3-5 on the road this season.

The Series History
- WKU holds a 12-1 advantage in the all-time series.
- Southern Miss is 1-4 in games played at Reed Green Coliseum.
- In 2002, Southern Miss won 67-64. It's the lone win for the program in the series.
- WKU won the 2020 meeting in Bowling Green, 75-72.

The Road Ahead
- Southern Miss will host its next three games at Reed Green Coliseum in a five-day stretch.
- It will host UTSA (7 p.m.) on Thursday, UTEP (12 p.m.) on Saturday and Marshall (7 p.m.) on Monday.

Southern Miss Opens Four-Game Home Stint with WKU Monday Night

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Players Mentioned

LaDavius Draine

Isaih Moore

Jaron Pierre, Jr.

DeAndre Pinckney

Tyler Stevenson

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics