Golden Eagles Return Home to Host Xavier (La.)

Wednesday, November 15

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7 PM

Southern Miss

Xavier (La.)

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Southern Miss Golden Eagles guard Donovan Ivory (15) takes a three point shot in a game between Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Mississippi State Bulldogs in the NCAA Basketball Game. October 29, 2023
(Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com)

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Golden Eagles Return Home to Host Xavier (La.)

11/14/2023 3:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team returns to Reed Green Coliseum on Wednesday night as it plays host to Xavier (La.) in a 7 p.m. tip-off.

Game 3: Southern Miss (1-1, 0-0 SBC) vs. Xavier (La.) (3-0, 0-0 RRAC)
Wednesday, November 15 at 7 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
Reed Green Coliseum (8,095)

The Golden Eagles look to steady the ship after falling at Akron last Friday night. The Zips took a one-point lead with five minutes remaining and turned it into a 72-54 win to take the MAC-SBC Challenge game. Southern Miss plays the Gold Rush at The Greenhouse before embarking on a drive to Jacksonville, Fla. for two games at the Jacksonville Classic. They then will host South Dakota State the day before Thanksgiving.

The game will feature Will Kollmeyer and Larry Boyd on the ESPN+ call. Fans can listen on the Southern Miss Radio Network, Southern Miss Game Day App, or their local Southern Miss Network affiliate to hear John Cox on the call.

KEY GOLDEN EAGLE STORYLINES
- Southern Miss is coming off an 18-point loss at Akron after it ended the game on a near five-minute scoring drought
- Austin Crowley paced the Golden Eagles with 17 points after opening the season with a 19-point performance against William Carey
- Senior guard Mo Arnold has taken over as the floor general for the Golden Eagles -- he's averaging 7.0ppg, 7.5rpg and 4.5apg
- The 42 points scored by William Carey were the fewest under Jay Ladner and marked the 48^th time Southern Miss has held an opponent under 50 points since joining the Division I ranks
- Crowley (19), Donovan Ivory (13) and Victor Hart (12) all scored in double figures, while Crowley added 10 boards to pick up the first double-double of his career against the Crusaders
- Last season, Southern Miss racked up 25 wins for the fourth time in program history
- Crowley's breakout junior season included Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year, First Team All-Sun Belt, First Team All-NABC District 23, Lou Henson All-American, Lou Henson Player of the Year Finalist, and Howell Trophy Finalist
- The Golden Eagles lost Felipe Haase, Marcelo Perez, Tyler Morman, DeAndre Pinckney and Nico Aguirre to graduation. Denijay Harris (Arkansas) and GianFranco Grafals (Nova Southeastern) opted for the transfer portal
- Haase, Perez, Morman, Pinckney and Aguirre all signed professional contracts, while Haase signed the largest European rookie contract of any undrafted player
- Southern Miss hit big in the portal for the second consecutive season after landing Victor Iwuakor (UNLV/Oklahoma), Andre Curbelo (St. John's/Illinois), Ladner (Loyola New Orleans), Hall (Wallace State/Delta State), Lieb Yat (Seminole State College), Jose Benitez (Francis Marion) and Tegra Izay (Harcum/La Salle)
- Izay and Yat are the first 7-footers to don the Black and Gold since 7-foot-1 big man Gustavo Lino played for Southern Miss in 2009
- Juan Cardona was promoted to Associate Head Coach over the summer after producing one of the top defenses in college basketball
- Southern Miss' 18-win turnaround from the 2021-22 to 2022-23 was the second-best in NCAA Division I history. Iowa State owns the top spot at +22 in 2021-22

BREAKING DOWN XAVIER (LA.)
- The Gold Rush are 3-0 with wins over Dillard, College of Biblical Studies and Loyola (La.)
- Cory Wells leads Xavier (La.) in scoring at 18.7 points per game, while TJ Jones has averaged 17.7 points per game
- Wells, Jones, Lance Williams (12.0), Jeremy Lindsey (10.0) and Jathen Ross (10.) all average 10-plus points
- The team's 79.0 points per game ranks third in NAIA basketball and they're shooting .492 from the floor
- The Gold Rush went 23-9 during the 2022-23 season and won the Red River Athletic Conference Championship over LSU-Shreveport
- Xavier (La.) beat Hope in the NIAI Tournament opening round before falling to top-seed College of Idaho

SERIES HISTORY
- First official meeting between the two schools

Follow @SouthernMissMBB on Facebook, Instagram and X for updates. Season tickets are available for the 2023-24 season -- Fans can purchase tickets at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or visit the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office on campus weekdays during normal business hours.