Wednesday, February 26
Hattiesburg, Miss.
7:30 PM
Southern Miss
10-20,5-12Sun Belt
82
vs
88
South Alabama
20-10,12-5Sun Belt
1
2
F
South Alabama
46
42
88
Southern Miss.
36
46
82
Jaguars Stave Off Southern Miss' Rally to Win 88-82
2/26/2025 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Hattiesburg, Miss. – Southern Miss (10-20, 5-12 Sun Belt) lost a shootout to South Alabama (20-10, 12-5 Sun Belt) at Reed Green Coliseum on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles and Jaguars combined for 23 three-pointers in South Alabama's 88-82 win.
Denijay Harris picked up his league leading 17th double-double of the season thanks to a 25-point, 11-rebound performance. The Golden Eagles got another 21 points from Cobie Montgomery, who caught fire from deep with five three-pointers.
South Alabama jumped on Southern Miss early en route to opening a 17-point lead in the first half. The lead held steady at 10 heading into halftime before the Golden Eagles came out of the break with adjustments made.
The Golden Eagles used a flurry of runs in the second half to cut it to a one-point game twice in the first 10 minutes. The first came on an Alfred Worrell Jr. three-pointer and second on a Montgomery free throw. South Alabama, though, got a Judah Brown three to fall to turn it into an 11-point game.
Trailing by 10 with 2:26 to play, Montgomery made a corner three-pointer to get the deficit into single digits. Neftali Alvarez drained a deep trey to cut it to six, then Worrell and Harris cut it to four with 20 seconds left. Harris' dunk gave him the double-double off a missed three-pointer.
Southern Miss had a good opportunity after that thanks to a potential Alvarez steal. However, after reviewing it it was deemed Jaguar ball. That led to a pair of free throws for South Alabama to extend the lead to six with 15 seconds left. The Golden Eagles had a pair of shots fall short after that, resulting in the home loss.
Southern Miss shot 50 percent for the fifth time this season, while shooting 51.9 percent in the second half. Montgomery's 21 points tied his career high, while Alvarez's 10 assists were a career best.
All 13 Golden Eagles that were dressed out saw action and all but two scored. The Southern Miss bench account for 28 points to South Alabama's 31.
The Golden Eagles now host Troy on Friday night in the regular season finale. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will follow the Lady Eagles' 5 p.m. game.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against South Alabama: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris, #14 Trey Alfonso
- Southern Miss' first points came from Denijay Harris
- The Golden Eagles made 10+ three-pointers for the sixth time this season
- Southern Miss leads the all-time series 27-26 after tonight's loss
- The Golden Eagles are 35-8 at The Greenhouse over the last three seasons
- Southern Miss shot 50 percent from the floor, out shooting South Alabama's 46.8 percent clip
- All 13 players dressed out for Southern Miss saw action. Southern Miss had 11 of those players record points
- Southern Miss' 28 bench points comes two games after it produced 30 points against Coastal Carolina. The season high in bench scoring against a Division I opponent is 35 at James Madison
- Trey Alfonso started made the first start of his career against South Alabama
- Alfonso drained the second three-pointer of his career and tied his season high in scoring with the basket
- Jose Benitez has scored in each of his last three appearances
- Jett Montgomery made his first three-pointer since making a buzzer-beater at ULM three games ago
- Jett Montgomery made multiple three-pointers for the fourth time this season and for the first time since Nov. 30 against Milwaukee
- Cobie Montgomery has made a three-pointer in 25 of the last 26 games
- Cobie Montgomery scored 10+ points for the 12th time this season after finishing with 21 tonight
- Cobie Montgomery made 5+ three-pointers for the 12th time this season
- John Wade III made his sixth three-pointer of the season and his second in the last eight games
- Wade finished with a season-high three assists in 12 minutes of action
- Denijay Harris reached double figures for the 10th consecutive game after scoring 25 tonight. He has 26 double-digit performances this season and 44 in his career
- Harris scored 20 points for the eighth time this season and the ninth time in his career
- Harris is tied for the sixth-most double-doubles in a single season at Southern Miss with 17
- Neftali Alvarez finished with a career-high 10 assists
- Alfred Worrell Jr. finished with a career-high two steals and both resulted in Southern Miss points
Denijay Harris picked up his league leading 17th double-double of the season thanks to a 25-point, 11-rebound performance. The Golden Eagles got another 21 points from Cobie Montgomery, who caught fire from deep with five three-pointers.
South Alabama jumped on Southern Miss early en route to opening a 17-point lead in the first half. The lead held steady at 10 heading into halftime before the Golden Eagles came out of the break with adjustments made.
The Golden Eagles used a flurry of runs in the second half to cut it to a one-point game twice in the first 10 minutes. The first came on an Alfred Worrell Jr. three-pointer and second on a Montgomery free throw. South Alabama, though, got a Judah Brown three to fall to turn it into an 11-point game.
Trailing by 10 with 2:26 to play, Montgomery made a corner three-pointer to get the deficit into single digits. Neftali Alvarez drained a deep trey to cut it to six, then Worrell and Harris cut it to four with 20 seconds left. Harris' dunk gave him the double-double off a missed three-pointer.
Southern Miss had a good opportunity after that thanks to a potential Alvarez steal. However, after reviewing it it was deemed Jaguar ball. That led to a pair of free throws for South Alabama to extend the lead to six with 15 seconds left. The Golden Eagles had a pair of shots fall short after that, resulting in the home loss.
Southern Miss shot 50 percent for the fifth time this season, while shooting 51.9 percent in the second half. Montgomery's 21 points tied his career high, while Alvarez's 10 assists were a career best.
All 13 Golden Eagles that were dressed out saw action and all but two scored. The Southern Miss bench account for 28 points to South Alabama's 31.
The Golden Eagles now host Troy on Friday night in the regular season finale. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will follow the Lady Eagles' 5 p.m. game.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against South Alabama: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #12 Neftali Alvarez, #13 Denijay Harris, #14 Trey Alfonso
- Southern Miss' first points came from Denijay Harris
- The Golden Eagles made 10+ three-pointers for the sixth time this season
- Southern Miss leads the all-time series 27-26 after tonight's loss
- The Golden Eagles are 35-8 at The Greenhouse over the last three seasons
- Southern Miss shot 50 percent from the floor, out shooting South Alabama's 46.8 percent clip
- All 13 players dressed out for Southern Miss saw action. Southern Miss had 11 of those players record points
- Southern Miss' 28 bench points comes two games after it produced 30 points against Coastal Carolina. The season high in bench scoring against a Division I opponent is 35 at James Madison
- Trey Alfonso started made the first start of his career against South Alabama
- Alfonso drained the second three-pointer of his career and tied his season high in scoring with the basket
- Jose Benitez has scored in each of his last three appearances
- Jett Montgomery made his first three-pointer since making a buzzer-beater at ULM three games ago
- Jett Montgomery made multiple three-pointers for the fourth time this season and for the first time since Nov. 30 against Milwaukee
- Cobie Montgomery has made a three-pointer in 25 of the last 26 games
- Cobie Montgomery scored 10+ points for the 12th time this season after finishing with 21 tonight
- Cobie Montgomery made 5+ three-pointers for the 12th time this season
- John Wade III made his sixth three-pointer of the season and his second in the last eight games
- Wade finished with a season-high three assists in 12 minutes of action
- Denijay Harris reached double figures for the 10th consecutive game after scoring 25 tonight. He has 26 double-digit performances this season and 44 in his career
- Harris scored 20 points for the eighth time this season and the ninth time in his career
- Harris is tied for the sixth-most double-doubles in a single season at Southern Miss with 17
- Neftali Alvarez finished with a career-high 10 assists
- Alfred Worrell Jr. finished with a career-high two steals and both resulted in Southern Miss points
Team Stats
USA
USM
FG%
.468
.509
3FG%
.417
.371
FT%
.714
.765
RB
33
33
TO
7
15
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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