Golden Eagles to Tangle with Bobcats for First Time Saturday

Saturday, January 28

Reed Green Coliseum

2 PM

Southern Miss

Texas State

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Southern Miss Golden Eagles guard Mo Arnold (3) with a reverse layup in a game between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Arkansas State Red Wolves . January 26, 2023 (Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com)

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Golden Eagles to Tangle with Bobcats for First Time Saturday

1/27/2023 3:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Listen Live Stats Tickets Game Program

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team (18-4, 7-2 SBC) wraps up its four-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Texas State (11-11, 4-5 SBC) for the first time in program history. Tipoff from Reed Green Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

How to Follow
- Stream the game on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. CST, with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd on the call
- John Cox will call the game on the Southern Miss Learfield Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the Gameday App
- Follow @SouthernMissMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates

Golden Eagle Nuggets
- Through nine Sun Belt games, Austin Crowley is averaging 19.0 points per game and DeAndre Pinckney is averaging 17.0 points per game
- Pinckney is coming off a career-high 28-point performance against James Madison last Saturday. He added another 18 points on Thursday night
- Pinckney (Jan. 10) and Crowley (Jan. 3) have both been named Sun Belt Player of the Week this season
- The Golden Eagles are coming off a 73-57 win against Arkansas State to secure the season sweep
- Denijay Harris picked up the first double-double of his career on Thursday night with 11 points and 10 rebounds
- Against Arkansas State on Jan. 14, Harris poured in a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor
- Southern Miss is off to its best conference start since the 2011-12 season when it opened C-USA play 7-1
- The 13 wins before New Year's Day tie the 2011-12 team for wins recorded before the holiday
- The Golden Eagles picked up their first Sun Belt win in program history in a 64-60 win against Troy on Dec. 29, 2022
- Crowley has scored at least 10 points in each of his last 13 games, including a career-high 30 against App State
- Crowley (17.3), Haase (14.4) and Pinckney (14.2) are the only Golden Eagles averaging double-digit points per game
- As of Friday morning, Southern Miss ranked 39^th in scoring defense (63.6), 19^th in scoring margin (12.2), 29^th in steals per game (8.9), 25^th in turnover margin (3.6) and 45^th in turnovers forced per game (15.4)
- Haase (1544 -806-306) became the sixth active player in Division I basketball to have at least 1,500 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists since the 2017-18 season
- The Golden Eagles lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense at 63.6 points per game
- Southern Miss had a record-breaking day in the steals department against Lamar on Dec. 10 as its 21 steals was the fourth most in a single game in program history
- Three days later it set a program record for three-point attempts when it tried 42 at Lamar on Dec. 13
- Pinckney (7.1) and Haase (6.9) pace the Golden Eagles on the glass, while Pinckney leads the with 157 total rebounds
- Jay Ladner went back to his usual starting five with Crowley, Arnold, Harris, Pinckney and Haase. That grouping is 9-2 when it starts for Southern Miss this season

Scouting the Bobcats
- A three-point win over Georgia Southern on Thursday snapped a three-game skid for the Bobcats
- Voted second on the Preseason Sun Belt Poll, Texas State is 11-11 overall and 4-5 in Sun Belt play
- Mason Harrell paces the team offensively at 16.2 points per game with 29 made three-pointers and 21 steals
- Harrell has 1,373 career points
- Overall, the Bobcats have won eight games away from Strahan Arena. The total is the second most in the Sun Belt Conference behind nine by Louisiana
- Head coach Terrence Johnson earned his 50th win Thursday night. He is currently 11th in program history with the next former coach to catch being Harry Larrabee who finished with 55 victories

Series History
- This is the first meeting between the Golden Eagles and Bobcats
- It's the fifth time this season that Jay Ladner is facing a new foe in conference play. He owns wins over App State, Arkansas State, James Madison and Troy

Up Next
- The Golden Eagles will travel to Troy on Thursday, Feb. 2 for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN+

Single-game and season tickets are available through SouthernMissTickets.com, calling 1-800-844-TICK or visiting the Pat Ferlise Center during normal business hours.