Men's Basketball Survives Overtime Thriller Against Texas State

Saturday, January 11

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2 PM

Southern Miss

8-9,3-2Sun Belt

Texas State

9-8,2-3Sun Belt

OT 1

Texas St.

Southern Miss.

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Men's Basketball Survives Overtime Thriller Against Texas State

1/11/2025 7:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss (8-9, 3-2 Sun Belt) survived an overtime thriller against Texas State (9-8, 2-3 Sun Belt) on Saturday to win 92-88 at Reed Green Coliseum. The overtime win was the first for the Golden Eagles since Jan. 1, 2021.

Six Golden Eagles finished in double figures, while Alfred Worrell Jr. led the bunch with a career-high 20 points. Denijay Harris did his usual thing as he scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds – it was his second-straight double after a 19-point, 18-rebound game on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles connected on 10 three-pointers for the fifth time this season. Cobie Montgomery and Worrell Jr. accounted for nine of those 10 treys. Despite its comeback falling short, Texas State shot 44.6 percent from the floor. Southern Miss was limited to a 40.5 percent clip.

DeAntoni Gordon was honored before the game for scoring 1,000 career points and added another 13 to his collegiate total tonight. The Mobile, Ala. Product also came down with six offensive rebounds.

How it Happened
After scoring 45 points in the second half against ULM on Thursday, Southern Miss kept its foot on the pedal and dropped another 45 points in today's opening half. DeAntoni Gordon got the party started early has he converted a steal into a one-handed slam two minutes into the game. Alfred Worrell Jr. came off the bench and provided a spark with 17 first-half points.

Southern Miss used a 14-1 run over three minutes to take a 21-8 lead just under 11 minutes into the half. Worrell Jr. then scored 11 of the Golden Eagles' next 13 points to put them up 20. Texas State quickly scored the next seven points to briefly quiet the Reed Green Coliseum crowd, but Cobie Montgomery punched right back.

Montgomery drilled his second three-pointer of the half to put the Golden Eagles back ahead by 16 with about 90 seconds left on the clock. Andre Curbelo scored the final four points of the half for Southern Miss to 45-30 lead at the break.

The second half is one the Golden Eagles are going to want to forget about, but to their credit, it worked out in the end. Southern Miss gave up a 6-0 to open the half and teetered with a 9-point lead for the next four minutes. Neftali Alvarez briefly put Southern Miss back up by 14, but an 8-0 run by the Bobcats made it a six-point game with 12:23 to play.

Southern Miss came out a media timeout and regrouped with a 9-0 run from Andre Curbelo and Gordon. The run put the Golden Eagles back ahead by 15 with 10 minutes to play. At that point, Texas State started to chip away at the deficit. It started with a Mark Drome layup – Drome had 11 points over the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Gordon made a mid-range jumper with 4:26 left to put Southern Miss ahead by 11. The shot, though, was the last made field goal by the Golden Eagles. Texas State took advantage of the shooting troubles and ripped off a 15-3 run to climb back into the game. Denijay Harris made a free throw to tie the game with 26 seconds left, which gave Texas State the ball back. The Bobcats came out of a timeout and coughed up the ball to Curbelo, who then went down the court and nearly made a game-winning layup.

Curbelo's layup bounced off the rim, which sent the game to overtime tied at 76. The Golden Eagles struck first when Harris drained a pair of freebies – his points were a precursor to the effect he'd have in overtime period.

Texas State then answered with a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead. The back-and-forth lead changes went on for the entire overtime period, literally. There were five lead changes in the five-minute overtime period.

The final lead change came on a Neftali Alvarez free throw with 11 seconds left. Curbelo and Harris iced the game with three more free throws over the final seconds.

Deep Dive into the Numbers
- Southern Miss made 10+ three-pointers for the fifth time this season
- It was the fifth time it shot 40 percent when making 10+ three-pointers
- The Golden Eagles shot 40.5 percent from the floor tonight, making it the second-lowest shooting percentage in a win this season
- Southern Miss' 21 offensive rebounds were the most in a single game this season
- DeAntoni Gordon had six offensive rebounds and Christian Reid had four offensive rebounds
- The Golden Eagles only turned the ball over four times in the first half – they ultimately finished with 16 turnovers

Nuggets and Notes
- Its 45 points are tied for the most in a half by Southern Miss in Sun Belt play. They also had 45 points in the second half against ULM
- Southern Miss made 10+ three-pointers for the fifth time this season and for the second time in the last three games
- Southern Miss won its first overtime game since beating UTEP on Jan. 1, 2021
- Six Southern Miss players scored in double figures for the first time since Nov. 11, 2016. The six on that day were Raheem Watts (15), Eddie Davis (14), Cortez Edwards (14), D'Angelo Richardson (14), Quinton Campbell (13), Kevin Holland (13), Tim Rowe (10) vs. Tougaloo, 11/11/16. Today's six in double figures were Alfred Worrell Jr. (20)
- Southern Miss is 34-4 at Reed Green Coliseum since the start of the '22-23 season
- Cobie Montgomery has made at least one three-pointer in 13 consecutive games dating back to the Nov. 24 game at Montana State
- Worrell Jr's 20 points were a career-high. His previous high was 16 against ULM on Thursday
- Denijay Harris had 10+ rebounds for the eighth time this season and for the second-straight game
- DeAntoni Gordon had a career high in blocks with six