Men's Basketball Opens Four-Game Road Trip at Coastal Carolina Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 24

Conway, SC

6 PM

Southern Miss

Coastal Carolina

Austin Crowley drives to the hoop against Arkansas State

Men's Basketball Opens Four-Game Road Trip at Coastal Carolina Wednesday Night

1/23/2024 5:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Southern Miss Game Notes Coastal Carolina Game Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss (11-8, 5-2 Sun Belt) men's basketball opens a four-game road swing on Wednesday night at Coastal Carolina (5-13, 2-5 Sun Belt). Tip-off from the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. is set for 6 p.m. CST on ESPN+.

Game 20: Southern Miss (11-8, 5-2 Sun Belt) at Coastal Carolina (5-13, 2-5 Sun Belt)
Wednesday, January 23 at 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
HTC Center (3,212)

Southern Miss is coming off the second-largest comeback win at Reed Green Coliseum in program history. The Golden Eagles trailed by 18 with 13 minutes left before they stormed back to beat Troy on Saturday. Victor Iwuakor provided the game-winning basket with 2.9 seconds left to help extend Southern Miss' winning streak to two.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Jeff McCarragher and Nate Ross on the 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
- As of Jan. 20, Iwuakor is one of two players in the country to have at least 20 blocks in January
- The 18-point comeback against Troy is the second-biggest at home in program history
- Iwuakor is picked up his first career double-double against Arkansas State with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks
- Southern Miss' 50 rebounds against the Red Wolves marked the second time this season they reached that number
- Victor Hart picked up a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points. The double-double was his fourth of the season
- Southern Miss' win over No. 19 James Madison on Jan. 6 was the first ranked win since Jan. 15, 2011 over No. 22 UCF. It was the eighth ranked win in program history
- Curbelo dished out 20 assists over two games against James Madison and Georgia State
- Southern Miss moved to 2-0 in Sun Belt home openers following its win over Georgia State
- Curbelo became the first Golden Eagle since Ronald Jackson in 1980 to record a triple-double
- Curbelo led the Golden Eagles in points (18), rebounds (7) and steals (4) in the conference opener against Georgia Southern
- Hart picked up the third double-double of his career with 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Rebels
- Post players Tegra Izay (9) and Iwuakor (8) combined for 17 rebounds and 16 points against Lamar
- Izay hauled in a career-high 14 rebounds in 30 minutes of action against McNeese
- Iwuakor led all Golden Eagles against Northwestern State with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. Montgomery went for a career-high 17 points
- Southern Miss' 35 bench points were the most in a single game against a Division I opponent this season
- Southern Miss' 53.8 percent shooting from the floor against Northwestern State was the best this season and marked the second consecutive game where it shot over 50 percent from the floor
- Ivory enjoyed a 32-point outburst in a road win at Milwaukee, while Hart helped the Golden Eagles to a win at UAB with a 26-point performance
- Hart led all Golden Eagles with 18 points in the tournament opening loss to Utah Valley. He went 9-of-13 from the floor in that game -- the most field goals he has made in a single game
- 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
- Tegra Izay and Lieb 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 - 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

SCOUTING COASTAL CAROLINA
- The Chanticleers come into Wednesday's game with a 5-13 record and a 2-5 mark in league play
- John Ojiako leads the Chants in scoring at 13.0 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game
- Interim Head Coach Benny Ross took over on Dec. 6 after legendary coach Cliff Ellis retired
- Jacob Meyer (12.8) and Kylan Blackmon (11.9) are the only other two players averaging double figure scoring

THE SERIES HISTORY
- This is the first meeting between the two teams

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.