Gordon Shines Despite Arkansas State Topping Southern Miss Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 29

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7 PM

Southern Miss

9-13,4-6Sun Belt

Arkansas State

17-5,8-2Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

Southern Miss.

Gordon Shines Despite Arkansas State Topping Southern Miss Wednesday Night

1/29/2025 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Notes Game Book

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss (9-13, 4-6 Sun Belt) suffered a rare loss at Reed Green Coliseum on Wednesday night, falling 81-67 to Arkansas State (17-5, 8-2 Sun Belt).

Denijay Harris and DeAntoni Gordon each picked up double-doubles tonight as Harris finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Gordon finished with 22 points and 10 boards – it was Gordon's first double-double and second 20-point game of the season.

Christian Watson joined Gordon and Harris in double figures with 10 points. The Golden Eagles only turned the ball over two times in the first half but finished the game with 14 turnovers after having six in the first eight minutes of the second half.

The Golden Eagles held Arkansas State well below its season average of 9.3 three-pointers per contest with six tonight. On the other side, the Red Wolves limited the Golden Eagles to six three-pointers. Cobie Montgomery extended his streak of made three-pointers to 18 games, which dates to Nov. 24 at Montana State.

Neftali Alvarez added nine points on four-for-seven shooting from the field – Alvarez finished with one of Southern Miss' six three-pointers. John Wade III made his Reed Green Coliseum debut en route to a five-point night off the bench.

Southern Miss has one game left in Hattiesburg before embarking on a four-game road trip next week. The Golden Eagles will welcome Georgia Southern to town on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tip.

How it Happened
DeAntoni Gordon sparked the Golden Eagle offense in the first minutes of the game as he scored six of their first 10 points. With it feeling like ages since Southern Miss played at Reed Green Coliseum, the fans got a warm welcome back as Gordon slammed home a dunk for his second basket of the game.

Neftali Alvarez gave Southern Miss a 6-4 lead after Gordon's first four points – Southern Miss wouldn't trail for the remainder of the half. Alvarez's basket started a 6-0 run for Southern Miss and gave it an early six-point lead to set the tone.

Arkansas State kept the Golden Eagles at arm's length the next eight minutes and nearly regained the lead after Terrance Ford Jr. scored five-straight points himself to get within one. Alvarez, though, drained a deep three-pointer to swing the momentum back to Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles continued to build their lead and led by as many as eight late in the half. Alvarez gave Southern Miss another eight-point lead with 2:02 left in the first half. However, the Red Wolves hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 90 seconds to make it a four-point game in favor of Southern Miss at the half.

Alvarez had a clutch block on Arkansas State's final possession of the first half. Gordon finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action. Despite going on a 1-for-11 shooting streak in the half, Southern Miss still shot 45.5 percent from the floor.

The second half picked up with Christian Watson knocked down back-to-back shots to extend Southern Miss' lead to seven. That was the last time the Golden Eagles had control. Arkansas State used a Kobie Julien to start a 26-2 run over an eight-minute span. A Gordon jumper stopped the run, but the Red Wolves had already opened a 65-48 lead with 10:16 to play.

Southern Miss tried to mount a comeback as it got within nine three different times. Each time, though, Arkansas State had an answer. Harris converted three consecutive free throws to make it 74-65 with 2:37 to play. However, Joseph Pinion hit his third triple of the night to ice the ballgame.

Digging into the Numbers
- Southern Miss limited itself to two turnovers in the first half and forced five Arkansas State turnovers in that time
- The Golden Eagles were outrebounded 44-34 and 14-9 on the offensive boards
- Gordon and Harris' double-doubles are the first by Golden Eagle teammates in a game since Austin Crowley and Victor Iwuakor last season against Western Michigan
- The Golden Eagles converted 16 of their 23 free attempts

Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against Arkansas State: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris
- First players off the bench were John Wade III, Andre Curbelo, and Alfred Worrell Jr. at the 15:26 mark in the first half
- Southern Miss moved to 34-5 at Reed Green Coliseum since the start of the 2022-23 season. The Golden Eagles are 8-2 at home this season with losses to Lamar and Arkansas State
- Arkansas State's win made the all-time series 17-15 in favor of Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are now 12-4 in Hattiesburg against the Red Wolves
- Southern Miss made at least 16 free throws for the eighth time this season after going 16-for-23 tonight. The Golden Eagles have made 16 free throws in four of their last six outings
- John Wade III made his Reed Green Coliseum debut after playing his first three games on the road
- DeAntoni Gordon scored six of Southern Miss' first 10 points. Gordon finished in double figures for the 10th time this season and for the 56th time in his career
- Gordon finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds – both were a season best. It also gave Gordon his first double-double of the season and the sixth of his career
- Cobie Montgomery extended his made three-pointer streak to 18 consecutives games after going 1-for-2 tonight
- Denijay Harris scored in double figures 18th time this season and the 36th time in his career. Harris has scored 10+ six of the last seven games after finishing with 16 tonight
- Harris recorded his 11th double-double of the season and fifth in his last seven games