Southern Miss Heads to Birmingham for NIT Opener Against UAB

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- For the 11^th time in program history, the Southern Miss men's basketball team is set to play in the National Invitational Tournament. The unseeded Golden Eagles (25-7, 14-4 Sun Belt) will travel to take on fourth-seeded UAB (25-9, 14-6 C-USA) in Bartow Arena on Tuesday night. Tipoff in Birmingham, Ala. is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

How to Follow
- Stream the game on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m., with Joel Godett (PxP) and John Williams (Color) 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 From the Season
- For the third time in the Division I era, Southern Miss was crowned regular season champions
- Southern Miss has been to the NIT 11 times, but the last two trips were vacated due to NCAA sanctions
- Most notably, the Golden Eagles won the 1987 NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden
- Southern Miss fell to South Alabama in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals, 61-78
- Jay Ladner was named the Joe Gottfried Sun Belt Coach of the Year and Austin Crowley the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year
- Ladner was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, annually given to the top mid major coach
- Crowley was named a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, annually given to the top mid major player
- Crowley was named First Team All-Sun Belt, while Felipe Haase was named Second Team All-Sun Belt and DeAndre Pinckney Third Team All-Sun Belt
- Pinckney went for 15 points and 13 rebounds at Old Dominion to pick up his 7^th double-double of the season
- Southern Miss' 25 regular season wins are the most by any Golden Eagle team in program history
- Southern Miss' 14 conference wins are tied for the most in a single season in program history
- Neftali Alvarez (19), Haase (13) and Pinckney (12) all finished in double figures against the Georgia Southern
- 8,097 Southern Miss fans flooded into Reed Green Coliseum to see the Golden Eagles dump Louisiana. It was the fifth-largest crowd in program history
- Pinckney broke out for 22 points against the Ragin' Cajuns, while Alvarez finished with 17 points -- that was the most of his Southern Miss career
- Pinckney (22), Crowley (13), Haase (17) and Alvarez (17) all scored in double figures. Donovan Ivory had seven on Southern Miss' 26 bench points
- Pinckney (Jan. 10) and Crowley (Jan. 3) have both been named Sun Belt Player of the Week this season
- Southern Miss' 15-0 mark at home this season tied the best home winning percentage in program history after the 2011-12 team went 15-0
- Harris had a 19-point game at Troy. It was his second-highest scoring total this season behind his 22-point game at Arkansas State
- The 2022-23 team is the fifth-fastest team in program history to reach 20 wins
1. 1959-60: 22 games
1960-61: 22 games
3. 1990-91: 23 games
4. 2011-12: 23 games
5. 2022-23: 24 games
- 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 scored 10-plus points in 15-straight games spanning Dec. 10 - Feb. 2
- Haase is 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 are third in the Sun Belt in scoring defense at 65.4 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

A Glance at the Blazers
- UAB heads into the NIT with a 25-9 mark and an appearance in the C-USA title game on Saturday
- The Blazers dropped that game to FAU by 22 points in Frisco, Texas
- Senior guard Jordan Walker leads all Blazers in scoring at 23.4 ppg and ranks second in all of Division I
- Trey Jemison's 8.3 rpg ranked second in C-USA and 74^th nationally
- The Blazers have notable wins over Georgia, South Alabama, South Carolina and FAU. They also have a two-point loss to FAU

Ticket information can be found HERE. Follow @SouthernMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates throughout the tournament.

Southern Miss Heads to Birmingham for NIT Opener Against UAB

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Players Mentioned

Neftali Alvarez

Austin Crowley

Felipe Haase

Donovan Ivory

DeAndre Pinckney