Friday, February 28
Hattiesburg, Miss.
7:30 PM
Southern Miss
10-21,5-13Sun Belt
58
vs
70
Troy
20-10,13-5Sun Belt
1
2
F
Troy
32
38
70
Southern Miss.
26
32
58
Men's Basketball Stumbles in Regular Season Finale Against Troy
2/28/2025 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Hattiesburg, Miss. – Troy (20-10, 13-5 Sun Belt) clinched a share of the Sun Belt regular season title on Friday night with its 70-58 win over Southern Miss (10-21, 5-13 Sun Belt) at Reed Green Coliseum.
In his final game at The Greenhouse, Denijay Harris led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Jett Montgomery scored 13 points and cashed in three three-pointers. Montgomery matched his career-high which he previously set against Milwaukee in late November.
Alfred Worrell Jr. also made three treys as he finished with nine points off the bench. Neftali Alvarez scored 10 points and made a three-pointer for the third-straight game. The Golden Eagles outshot their opponent for the 13th time this season after holding Troy to a 33.3 percent clip. Southern Miss has finished with a better shooting percentage in each of its last three games.
Southern Miss now turns its attention to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The No. 12 Golden Eagles will take on No. 13 Coastal Carolina Tuesday at 5 p.m.
How it Happened
Denijay Harris opened the scoring on a fast break layup after blocking a Tayton Conerway shot. Troy responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 7-2 lead as the Golden Eagles hit just one of their first five shots and turned the ball over twice.
Trailing 13-5, Neftali Alvarez and Alfred Worrell Jr. hit a pair of treys to give the Golden Eagles a 6-0 run heading into the second media timeout. Southern Miss later cut it to a one-point game after Cobie Montgomery grabbed an offensive rebound for a layup.
The Trojans turned the one-pointer game into a 10-point advantage off a 10-1 run in under a minute. Southern Miss was trailing 32-22 with 2:17 left in the half and held Troy scoreless after that. The Golden Eagles used a Harris jumper and a pair of Alvarez free throws to cut it to 32-26 at the break.
Southern Miss came into the second half and trimmed the Trojan lead to five with a Jett Montgomery three-pointer, but Troy scored a flurry of points to push it back to 10 by the first media timeout.
The Trojans continued to extent their lead and built it to 14 by the next media timeout. Southern Miss managed to get it to a nine-point game with 7:30 left off a Worrell three-pointer. However, Conerway drove down the lane for a massive dunk which equated to a dagger.
Southern Miss trailed by as many as 16 down the stretch as Troy clinched a share of the Sun Belt regular season title with the win.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against Troy: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #9 Cobie Montgomery, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss won the opening tip for the 13th time this season
- Denijay Harris scored Southern Miss' first points on a fastbreak layup
- The first player off the Southern Miss bench was Alfred Worrell Jr. at 16:00
- All 12 Golden Eagles that were dressed out saw action. It was the second-straight game where the entire bench saw minutes
- Southern Miss outshot its opponent for the 13th time this season and moved to 7-6 in those games
- Southern Miss had 40+ rebounds for the 11th time this season
- John Wade III made his first career start as a Golden Eagle after coming off the bench in the 12 games he had previously played in
- Brewer Carruth recorded his first field goal since Jan. 2 at James Madison
- Neftali Alvarez scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and the fifth time in the last six games. Alvarez finished with 10 points tonight
- Trey Alfonso appeared in his second consecutive game after starting on Wednesday against South Alabama
- Denijay Harris scored 15 points to reach double figures for the 11th consecutive game and the 27th time this season
- Jett Montgomery tied his career high in scoring with 13 points. He also had 13 against Milwaukee on Nov. 30, 2024
In his final game at The Greenhouse, Denijay Harris led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Jett Montgomery scored 13 points and cashed in three three-pointers. Montgomery matched his career-high which he previously set against Milwaukee in late November.
Alfred Worrell Jr. also made three treys as he finished with nine points off the bench. Neftali Alvarez scored 10 points and made a three-pointer for the third-straight game. The Golden Eagles outshot their opponent for the 13th time this season after holding Troy to a 33.3 percent clip. Southern Miss has finished with a better shooting percentage in each of its last three games.
Southern Miss now turns its attention to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The No. 12 Golden Eagles will take on No. 13 Coastal Carolina Tuesday at 5 p.m.
How it Happened
Denijay Harris opened the scoring on a fast break layup after blocking a Tayton Conerway shot. Troy responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 7-2 lead as the Golden Eagles hit just one of their first five shots and turned the ball over twice.
Trailing 13-5, Neftali Alvarez and Alfred Worrell Jr. hit a pair of treys to give the Golden Eagles a 6-0 run heading into the second media timeout. Southern Miss later cut it to a one-point game after Cobie Montgomery grabbed an offensive rebound for a layup.
The Trojans turned the one-pointer game into a 10-point advantage off a 10-1 run in under a minute. Southern Miss was trailing 32-22 with 2:17 left in the half and held Troy scoreless after that. The Golden Eagles used a Harris jumper and a pair of Alvarez free throws to cut it to 32-26 at the break.
Southern Miss came into the second half and trimmed the Trojan lead to five with a Jett Montgomery three-pointer, but Troy scored a flurry of points to push it back to 10 by the first media timeout.
The Trojans continued to extent their lead and built it to 14 by the next media timeout. Southern Miss managed to get it to a nine-point game with 7:30 left off a Worrell three-pointer. However, Conerway drove down the lane for a massive dunk which equated to a dagger.
Southern Miss trailed by as many as 16 down the stretch as Troy clinched a share of the Sun Belt regular season title with the win.
Nuggets and Notes
- Southern Miss starters against Troy: #1 DeAntoni Gordon, #7 Christian Watson, #10 Cobie Montgomery, #9 Cobie Montgomery, #13 Denijay Harris
- Southern Miss won the opening tip for the 13th time this season
- Denijay Harris scored Southern Miss' first points on a fastbreak layup
- The first player off the Southern Miss bench was Alfred Worrell Jr. at 16:00
- All 12 Golden Eagles that were dressed out saw action. It was the second-straight game where the entire bench saw minutes
- Southern Miss outshot its opponent for the 13th time this season and moved to 7-6 in those games
- Southern Miss had 40+ rebounds for the 11th time this season
- John Wade III made his first career start as a Golden Eagle after coming off the bench in the 12 games he had previously played in
- Brewer Carruth recorded his first field goal since Jan. 2 at James Madison
- Neftali Alvarez scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and the fifth time in the last six games. Alvarez finished with 10 points tonight
- Trey Alfonso appeared in his second consecutive game after starting on Wednesday against South Alabama
- Denijay Harris scored 15 points to reach double figures for the 11th consecutive game and the 27th time this season
- Jett Montgomery tied his career high in scoring with 13 points. He also had 13 against Milwaukee on Nov. 30, 2024
Team Stats
TROY
USM
FG%
.333
.345
3FG%
.269
.292
FT%
.778
.579
RB
46
42
TO
10
16
STL
12
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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