Saturday, January 25
Lafayette, LA
7 PM
Southern Miss
9-11,4-4Sun Belt
67
at
59
Louisiana
6-15,4-5Sun Belt
1
2
F
Southern Miss.
31
36
67
Louisiana
35
24
59
Ladner Earns Career Win 150 as Southern Miss Beats Louisiana on the Road
1/25/2025 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAFAYETTE, La. – Jay Ladner picked up career win 150 on Saturday night as Southern Miss (9-11, 4-4 Sun Belt) gutted out a 67-59 win over Louisiana (6-15, 4-5 Sun Belt). The conference win was the Golden Eagles' first road win of the season.
All nine Southern Miss players that saw action scored at least two points and grabbed a rebound. DeAntoni Gordon led all Golden Eagles with 13 points, while Denijay Harris had 10 rebounds – it was his fifth-straight game with double figure rebounds.
Cobie Montgomery, Christian Watson, and Alfred Worrell Jr. all scored 10-plus points. Meanwhile, Montgomery made another three-pointer to extend his streak to 16 consecutive outings with a trey. Harris finished with nine points, one shy of extending his double-double streak to five games.
Despite its first win in Lafayette since 2009, Southern Miss turned the ball over 15 times. The Cajuns limited their turnover total to six. The Golden Eagles outrebounded Louisiana, 42-31 and had 11 more defensive rebounds.
How it Happened
Southern Miss started the scoring early with the first two baskets of the game to take a quick 5-0 lead. Louisiana, though, answered right back and rattled off an 11-0 run heading into the first media timeout.
Louisiana's lead peaked at six in the first half after that run and then led for the next 10 minutes of the game. The old rivals traded the next seven made baskets until Gordon drained a jumper to start a 7-0 run. The run included a Christian Watson dunk and two Worrell Jr. free throws.
Watson's dunk tied the game, while Worrell's freebies gave the Golden Eagles the lead. Andre Curbelo and Christian Reid scored in the midst of a Cajun run to keep Southern Miss ahead as halftime ticked closer.
Longtime Cajun Kentrell Garnett connected on a three-pointer with three minutes left in the half that gave Louisiana its first lead since the 9:19 mark. Harris briefly put the Golden Eagles back ahead, but the Cajuns took advantage of the Golden Eagle scoring drought over the final 2:50 and went into the break with a 35-31 lead.
Louisiana jumped on Southern Miss early in the second half pulled ahead by seven – its largest lead of the night – when Garnett made it 43-36 five minutes in. Neftali Alvarez finished a tough layup shortly after that to put the Golden Eagles on a 6-0 run. The Cajuns rallied again as Mostapha El Moutaouakkil scored five straight points to put the home team back ahead by five.
That's when John Wade III sparked the Golden Eagles with a put-back dunk. Wade's basket started a 6-0 that gave Southern Miss its first lead of the half. Southern Miss and Louisiana then went basket-for-basket over the next six made field goals. Harris broke the alternating scoring after he followed a Gordon basket with one of his own to put Southern Miss up by three with 2:40 to play.
The Cajuns got within one after Moutaoakkil scored the final points of his 23-point night with just under 90 seconds left. Watson iced the game with 49 seconds on the clock with a layup and then Southern Miss made five free throws over the final 43 seconds to hang onto the win.
Digging into the Numbers
- Southern Miss picked up its first win away from Reed Green Coliseum in its last 16 tries and its first road win of the season
- The Golden Eagles shot 45.5 percent from the floor, which is 10 percent above their season average
- Louisiana was limited to a 34.8 percent shooting clip, well below its season average of 40.3 heading into the game
- Southern Miss outrebounded the Cajuns 42-31 and 31-20 on the defensive glass
- All nine Golden Eagles finished with at least two points and one rebound
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters at Louisiana: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- The Golden Eagles now have five players with 100+ games played in their collegiate careers after Andre Curbelo reached 100 career games played tonight
- With the win, Southern Miss leads the all-time series 35-26
- The Golden Eagles are 12-19 in Lafayette and picked up their first road win against the Cajuns since Dec. 15, 2009
- Southern Miss won its first road game since defeating Coastal Carolina on Jan. 24, 2024
- Seven Golden Eagles recorded an assist tonight as the team finished with 13
- Jay Ladner picked up career win 150 and his 73rd at Southern Miss
- Cobie Montgomery has made a three-pointer in 16 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 24 at Montana State
- Alfred Worrell Jr. finished with 10 points after going scoreless in the last game. His previous three games before that he had 13+ plus points in each outing
- DeAntoni Gordon finished in double figures for the ninth time this season after scoring 13 points tonight. Gordon has scored 10+ points in four Sun Belt games
- Denijay Harris finished with 10+ rebounds for the 11th time this season and for the fifth-straight game after having 10 tonight. He's had double-digit rebounds in eight of his last nine games
That was career 𝗪𝗜𝗡 𝟭𝟱𝟬 for Coach Ladner 😎@CoachLadner | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/ph7WfnZquC
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) January 26, 2025
All nine Southern Miss players that saw action scored at least two points and grabbed a rebound. DeAntoni Gordon led all Golden Eagles with 13 points, while Denijay Harris had 10 rebounds – it was his fifth-straight game with double figure rebounds.
Cobie Montgomery, Christian Watson, and Alfred Worrell Jr. all scored 10-plus points. Meanwhile, Montgomery made another three-pointer to extend his streak to 16 consecutive outings with a trey. Harris finished with nine points, one shy of extending his double-double streak to five games.
Despite its first win in Lafayette since 2009, Southern Miss turned the ball over 15 times. The Cajuns limited their turnover total to six. The Golden Eagles outrebounded Louisiana, 42-31 and had 11 more defensive rebounds.
How it Happened
Southern Miss started the scoring early with the first two baskets of the game to take a quick 5-0 lead. Louisiana, though, answered right back and rattled off an 11-0 run heading into the first media timeout.
Louisiana's lead peaked at six in the first half after that run and then led for the next 10 minutes of the game. The old rivals traded the next seven made baskets until Gordon drained a jumper to start a 7-0 run. The run included a Christian Watson dunk and two Worrell Jr. free throws.
Watson's dunk tied the game, while Worrell's freebies gave the Golden Eagles the lead. Andre Curbelo and Christian Reid scored in the midst of a Cajun run to keep Southern Miss ahead as halftime ticked closer.
Longtime Cajun Kentrell Garnett connected on a three-pointer with three minutes left in the half that gave Louisiana its first lead since the 9:19 mark. Harris briefly put the Golden Eagles back ahead, but the Cajuns took advantage of the Golden Eagle scoring drought over the final 2:50 and went into the break with a 35-31 lead.
Louisiana jumped on Southern Miss early in the second half pulled ahead by seven – its largest lead of the night – when Garnett made it 43-36 five minutes in. Neftali Alvarez finished a tough layup shortly after that to put the Golden Eagles on a 6-0 run. The Cajuns rallied again as Mostapha El Moutaouakkil scored five straight points to put the home team back ahead by five.
That's when John Wade III sparked the Golden Eagles with a put-back dunk. Wade's basket started a 6-0 that gave Southern Miss its first lead of the half. Southern Miss and Louisiana then went basket-for-basket over the next six made field goals. Harris broke the alternating scoring after he followed a Gordon basket with one of his own to put Southern Miss up by three with 2:40 to play.
JONH WADE THE THIRD 🤯🔨#SCtop10 | @tyffwm pic.twitter.com/yBZUnEMazl
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) January 26, 2025
The Cajuns got within one after Moutaoakkil scored the final points of his 23-point night with just under 90 seconds left. Watson iced the game with 49 seconds on the clock with a layup and then Southern Miss made five free throws over the final 43 seconds to hang onto the win.
Digging into the Numbers
- Southern Miss picked up its first win away from Reed Green Coliseum in its last 16 tries and its first road win of the season
- The Golden Eagles shot 45.5 percent from the floor, which is 10 percent above their season average
- Louisiana was limited to a 34.8 percent shooting clip, well below its season average of 40.3 heading into the game
- Southern Miss outrebounded the Cajuns 42-31 and 31-20 on the defensive glass
- All nine Golden Eagles finished with at least two points and one rebound
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters at Louisiana: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- The Golden Eagles now have five players with 100+ games played in their collegiate careers after Andre Curbelo reached 100 career games played tonight
- With the win, Southern Miss leads the all-time series 35-26
- The Golden Eagles are 12-19 in Lafayette and picked up their first road win against the Cajuns since Dec. 15, 2009
- Southern Miss won its first road game since defeating Coastal Carolina on Jan. 24, 2024
- Seven Golden Eagles recorded an assist tonight as the team finished with 13
- Jay Ladner picked up career win 150 and his 73rd at Southern Miss
- Cobie Montgomery has made a three-pointer in 16 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 24 at Montana State
- Alfred Worrell Jr. finished with 10 points after going scoreless in the last game. His previous three games before that he had 13+ plus points in each outing
- DeAntoni Gordon finished in double figures for the ninth time this season after scoring 13 points tonight. Gordon has scored 10+ points in four Sun Belt games
- Denijay Harris finished with 10+ rebounds for the 11th time this season and for the fifth-straight game after having 10 tonight. He's had double-digit rebounds in eight of his last nine games
Team Stats
USM
LA
FG%
.455
.348
3FG%
.267
.208
FT%
.684
.800
RB
42
31
TO
15
6
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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