University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Wednesday, February 7
Hattiesburg, Miss.
7 PM
Southern Miss
13-11,7-5Sun Belt
78
vs
73
Old Dominion
6-18,2-10Sun Belt
1
2
F
Old Dominion
34
39
73
Southern Miss.
33
45
78
Crowley and Iwuakor Record Double-Doubles in 78-73 Win Over Old Dominion
2/7/2024 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After an emotional 24 hours for Southern Miss, Juan Cardona led the Golden Eagles (13-11, 7-5 Sun Belt) to 78-73 win over Old Dominion (6-18, 2-10 Sun Belt) on Wednesday night.
The Golden Eagles received a career night from Austin Crowley, who's 30-point performance garnered a text message from head coach Jay Ladner following the game. Ladner, who suffered a heart related medical emergency Tuesday morning, kept a close eye on his Golden Eagles.
"Great job, AC. Love you. Way to step up," is what Crowley said his head coach texted him after the game.
Southern Miss continued to battle and trimmed down an eight-point deficit on two separate occasions. The first came on a Mo Arnold three-pointer and the second came on back-to-back Crowley triples. Crowley's first three-pointer helped start a two-minute, 13-0 run that gave the Golden Eagles a five-point lead with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
With momentum heavily in favor of the home team, Old Dominion countered with a run of its own that silenced the Reed Green Coliseum crowd and gave it the lead. Crowley hit a pair of free throws in the final minute of the half, but Tryone Williams made a layup with 24 seconds to go that gave the Monarchs a 34-33 lead at the break.
Victor Iwuakor and Mo Arnold each had eight points in the opening 20 minutes as the Golden Eagles shot 36.7 percent from the floor. They also cashed in on five three-pointers at a 50 percent clip. The Monarchs opened the second half with a quick three-pointer that, but Crowley – again – had an answer.
A silky jumper from Crowley was followed by a Donovan Ivory that helped Southern Miss regain the lead. More importantly, it gave Southern Miss the lead for good. The ensuing stretch included a Tegra Izay dunk, Crowley three-pointer and another dunk courtesy of Ivory. The halftime deficit quickly vanished and Southern Miss had all the momentum on its side.
Old Dominion continued to mount a comeback attempt, but Southern Miss rattled off a 13-3 run that put it up 11 with about eight minutes to play – the 11-point lead would be the largest lead of the night for either team. Handily in control at the time, Southern Miss quickly found itself trying to fight off another Monarch rally less than a minute later. Old Dominion went of a 7-0 run in less than a minute to quickly make it a four-point game.
Right on cue, Crowley splashed a three-pointer that proved to the be the dagger. It put the Golden Eagles back up by seven with three minutes to play and was the final field goal of the night for Southern Miss. It made five free throws down the stretch that iced the win and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Iwuakor picked up his third double-double this season after going for 12 points and 11 rebounds. Arnold's 11 points marked the third consecutive game in which he reached that mark – it's the longest such stretch in his career.
Ivory bounced back from a tough previous game and finished with 16 points and went 9-for-11 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds and three assists. Iwuakor and Crowley are the first Golden Eagle duo to record double-doubles since Isaih Moore and DeAndre Pinckney did so on Feb. 14, 2022.
The Golden Eagles grabbed 43 rebounds, which was the most since recording 50 against Arkansas State on Jan. 17. It was the eighth time it recorded 40-plus rebounds. The win was the first over Old Dominion March 6, 2019.
Southern Miss returns to the court on Saturday against Western Michigan for the MAC-SBC Challenge. The Broncos will visit The Greenhouse at 1 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.
Game Notes
- Associate head coach Juan Cardona acted as head coach while Jay Ladner recovers from a heart related medical emergency
- Austin Crowley made his 57th consecutive start dating back to the season opener of last season
- Crowley's 30 points tied a career high and his 11 rebounds were a career high.
- Mo Arnold's scored 10-plus points in three-straight games – the longest stretch of such in his career
The Golden Eagles received a career night from Austin Crowley, who's 30-point performance garnered a text message from head coach Jay Ladner following the game. Ladner, who suffered a heart related medical emergency Tuesday morning, kept a close eye on his Golden Eagles.
"Great job, AC. Love you. Way to step up," is what Crowley said his head coach texted him after the game.
Crowley's outburst also included a career-high 11 rebounds as the West Point native picked up a double-double. Crowley night got started early as he scored on the first possession of the game. Old Dominion, though, took the lead on a 9-2 run that ended in a Leeroy Odiahi and Southern Miss timeout three minutes into the game.That was pretty 🥽@TheRealAC5 x @D_ono_van | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/SpayFUIYdx
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) February 8, 2024
Southern Miss continued to battle and trimmed down an eight-point deficit on two separate occasions. The first came on a Mo Arnold three-pointer and the second came on back-to-back Crowley triples. Crowley's first three-pointer helped start a two-minute, 13-0 run that gave the Golden Eagles a five-point lead with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
With momentum heavily in favor of the home team, Old Dominion countered with a run of its own that silenced the Reed Green Coliseum crowd and gave it the lead. Crowley hit a pair of free throws in the final minute of the half, but Tryone Williams made a layup with 24 seconds to go that gave the Monarchs a 34-33 lead at the break.
Victor Iwuakor and Mo Arnold each had eight points in the opening 20 minutes as the Golden Eagles shot 36.7 percent from the floor. They also cashed in on five three-pointers at a 50 percent clip. The Monarchs opened the second half with a quick three-pointer that, but Crowley – again – had an answer.
A silky jumper from Crowley was followed by a Donovan Ivory that helped Southern Miss regain the lead. More importantly, it gave Southern Miss the lead for good. The ensuing stretch included a Tegra Izay dunk, Crowley three-pointer and another dunk courtesy of Ivory. The halftime deficit quickly vanished and Southern Miss had all the momentum on its side.
🔨🔨🔨@D_ono_van | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/bjC5uifJXj
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) February 8, 2024
Old Dominion continued to mount a comeback attempt, but Southern Miss rattled off a 13-3 run that put it up 11 with about eight minutes to play – the 11-point lead would be the largest lead of the night for either team. Handily in control at the time, Southern Miss quickly found itself trying to fight off another Monarch rally less than a minute later. Old Dominion went of a 7-0 run in less than a minute to quickly make it a four-point game.
Right on cue, Crowley splashed a three-pointer that proved to the be the dagger. It put the Golden Eagles back up by seven with three minutes to play and was the final field goal of the night for Southern Miss. It made five free throws down the stretch that iced the win and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Iwuakor picked up his third double-double this season after going for 12 points and 11 rebounds. Arnold's 11 points marked the third consecutive game in which he reached that mark – it's the longest such stretch in his career.
Ivory bounced back from a tough previous game and finished with 16 points and went 9-for-11 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds and three assists. Iwuakor and Crowley are the first Golden Eagle duo to record double-doubles since Isaih Moore and DeAndre Pinckney did so on Feb. 14, 2022.
The Golden Eagles grabbed 43 rebounds, which was the most since recording 50 against Arkansas State on Jan. 17. It was the eighth time it recorded 40-plus rebounds. The win was the first over Old Dominion March 6, 2019.
Southern Miss returns to the court on Saturday against Western Michigan for the MAC-SBC Challenge. The Broncos will visit The Greenhouse at 1 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.
Game Notes
- Associate head coach Juan Cardona acted as head coach while Jay Ladner recovers from a heart related medical emergency
- Austin Crowley made his 57th consecutive start dating back to the season opener of last season
- Crowley's 30 points tied a career high and his 11 rebounds were a career high.
- Mo Arnold's scored 10-plus points in three-straight games – the longest stretch of such in his career
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Team Stats
ODU
USM
FG%
.413
.463
3FG%
.300
.500
FT%
.789
.594
RB
33
43
TO
9
17
STL
12
5
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
11
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
9
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
F
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