Men's Basketball Falls in Overtime at Texas State
1/18/2025 7:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Despite Denijay Harris recording his fourth-straight double-double, Southern Miss (8-11, 3-4 Sun Belt) fell 85-82 in overtime at Texas State (11-8, 4-3 Sun Belt) on Saturday afternoon. Harris led the Golden Eagles with an 18-point, 14-rebound performance.
The Golden Eagles had a golden opportunity at a buzzer beater with two ticks left on the clock in the second half, but the call was reversed, and Texas State subsequently missed a half-court heave.
Texas State eventually got a big-time three-pointer from Coleton Benson late in overtime to seal the win. The Golden Eagles had a couple of looks before the final buzzer sounded, but the ball clanked off the rim each time.
Neftali Alvarez scored 17 points, which was his most since scoring 21 against Lamar over a month ago. The Golden Eagles also benefitted from a hot-shooting Cobie Montgomery as the redshirt senior went for 16 points on four three-pointers.
How it Happened
It was a game of runs in the first half. Texas State and Southern Miss combined for four runs of at least five points, while no team led by more than six in the opening 20 minutes.
The first half saw seven lead changes after the Bobcats jumped to an early advantage. Texas State pushed to a five-point lead just minutes into the game, but back-to-back baskets from Harris helped hand the lead back to Southern Miss.
The two teams went back-and-forth for the next seven minutes until Alvarez sparked an 8-0 run that included John Wade III's first Southern Miss points. The Oakland, Calif. guard gave Southern Miss a 29-23 win with a pair of free throws with 5:44 left in the half. Wade later hit a clutch three-pointer with under a minute left in the half to record his first bucket wearing the Black and Gold.
Tylan Pope later answered Wade's basket and tied the game at 39-all heading into the break. The Golden Eagles, though, shot a sizzling 52 percent from the field in the first half. Harris scored 10 of Southern Miss' 39 points, which put him in double figures for the 16th time this season.
After getting outscored 8-0 to open the second half, Southern Miss rattled off an 18-3 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 53-47. With momentum swinging to Southern Miss, the Bobcats got a big shot from Coleton Benson that made it a three-point game with 11:13 to play.
Texas State quietly mounted a comeback after Benson's trey, but Southern Miss did itself no favors as it went the final six minutes of the game without a field goal. The Bobcats ended the game on a 10-4 run that included Pope hitting the backend of two free throws to tie the game with 10 seconds left on the clock.
That's when Southern Miss had a chance to seal the win. Neftali Alvarez took the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast, then Pope appeared to have blocked the layup attempt. The call on the floor went to Southern Miss, but it was flipped to Texas State after a review determined it never touched Pope.
After Benson's half-court attempt, Southern Miss and Texas State were headed to overtime for the second time in the last week. Alvarez opened overtime with a pair of freebies. Pope quickly tied it back up, then Harris had an impressive drive to the rim that put Southern Miss ahead by two again. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, that would be the last field goal they made.
Texas State later hit a flurry of free throws and ultimately iced the game on a Benson corner three with 1:27 left in overtime. Southern Miss missed five shot attempts over the final 90 seconds, while Texas State missed one. Montgomery had a look at a corner three with two seconds on the clock, but the shot came up short.
Southern Miss will continue its four-game road trip next Thursday at Troy. Tip-off at Trojan Arena is set for 6 p.m.
Digging into the Numbers
- The Golden Eagles shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half on 15-for-29 shooting
- Southern Miss out-shot Texas State with a 40.8 percent shooting percentage
- The Golden Eagles made eight three-pointers for the third-straight game, including 10 against Texas State last week
- Southern Miss is now 61-49 in overtime games all-time
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters at Texas State: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Harris, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss has recorded at least three blocks in 16 of its19 games this season
- Southern Miss fell to 1-1 in overtime this season after splitting the season series with Texas State – both went to overtime
- Southern Miss' 18 assists were its most since having 19 against ULM last week
- Christian Watson started his 18th game of the season. He is the only Golden Eagle to start in all 18 games
- John Wade III made his Southern Miss debut when he checked in at 15:05 in the first half
- Wade scored a career-high nine points and had a career-high nine rebounds
- Harris finished with his fourth-straight double-double after going for 18 points and 14 rebounds
- Cobie Montgomery has made at least one three-pointer in 15-straight games dating back to Nov. 24 at Montana State
The Golden Eagles had a golden opportunity at a buzzer beater with two ticks left on the clock in the second half, but the call was reversed, and Texas State subsequently missed a half-court heave.
Texas State eventually got a big-time three-pointer from Coleton Benson late in overtime to seal the win. The Golden Eagles had a couple of looks before the final buzzer sounded, but the ball clanked off the rim each time.
Neftali Alvarez scored 17 points, which was his most since scoring 21 against Lamar over a month ago. The Golden Eagles also benefitted from a hot-shooting Cobie Montgomery as the redshirt senior went for 16 points on four three-pointers.
How it Happened
It was a game of runs in the first half. Texas State and Southern Miss combined for four runs of at least five points, while no team led by more than six in the opening 20 minutes.
The first half saw seven lead changes after the Bobcats jumped to an early advantage. Texas State pushed to a five-point lead just minutes into the game, but back-to-back baskets from Harris helped hand the lead back to Southern Miss.
The two teams went back-and-forth for the next seven minutes until Alvarez sparked an 8-0 run that included John Wade III's first Southern Miss points. The Oakland, Calif. guard gave Southern Miss a 29-23 win with a pair of free throws with 5:44 left in the half. Wade later hit a clutch three-pointer with under a minute left in the half to record his first bucket wearing the Black and Gold.
Tylan Pope later answered Wade's basket and tied the game at 39-all heading into the break. The Golden Eagles, though, shot a sizzling 52 percent from the field in the first half. Harris scored 10 of Southern Miss' 39 points, which put him in double figures for the 16th time this season.
After getting outscored 8-0 to open the second half, Southern Miss rattled off an 18-3 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 53-47. With momentum swinging to Southern Miss, the Bobcats got a big shot from Coleton Benson that made it a three-point game with 11:13 to play.
Texas State quietly mounted a comeback after Benson's trey, but Southern Miss did itself no favors as it went the final six minutes of the game without a field goal. The Bobcats ended the game on a 10-4 run that included Pope hitting the backend of two free throws to tie the game with 10 seconds left on the clock.
That's when Southern Miss had a chance to seal the win. Neftali Alvarez took the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast, then Pope appeared to have blocked the layup attempt. The call on the floor went to Southern Miss, but it was flipped to Texas State after a review determined it never touched Pope.
After Benson's half-court attempt, Southern Miss and Texas State were headed to overtime for the second time in the last week. Alvarez opened overtime with a pair of freebies. Pope quickly tied it back up, then Harris had an impressive drive to the rim that put Southern Miss ahead by two again. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, that would be the last field goal they made.
Texas State later hit a flurry of free throws and ultimately iced the game on a Benson corner three with 1:27 left in overtime. Southern Miss missed five shot attempts over the final 90 seconds, while Texas State missed one. Montgomery had a look at a corner three with two seconds on the clock, but the shot came up short.
Southern Miss will continue its four-game road trip next Thursday at Troy. Tip-off at Trojan Arena is set for 6 p.m.
Digging into the Numbers
- The Golden Eagles shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half on 15-for-29 shooting
- Southern Miss out-shot Texas State with a 40.8 percent shooting percentage
- The Golden Eagles made eight three-pointers for the third-straight game, including 10 against Texas State last week
- Southern Miss is now 61-49 in overtime games all-time
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters at Texas State: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Harris, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss has recorded at least three blocks in 16 of its19 games this season
- Southern Miss fell to 1-1 in overtime this season after splitting the season series with Texas State – both went to overtime
- Southern Miss' 18 assists were its most since having 19 against ULM last week
- Christian Watson started his 18th game of the season. He is the only Golden Eagle to start in all 18 games
- John Wade III made his Southern Miss debut when he checked in at 15:05 in the first half
- Wade scored a career-high nine points and had a career-high nine rebounds
- Harris finished with his fourth-straight double-double after going for 18 points and 14 rebounds
- Cobie Montgomery has made at least one three-pointer in 15-straight games dating back to Nov. 24 at Montana State
Team Stats
USM
TXST
FG%
.408
.397
3FG%
.333
.471
FT%
.762
.742
RB
44
43
TO
13
8
STL
4
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
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