Men's Basketball Closes Louisiana Swing Saturday in Lafayette

Saturday, January 3

Lafayette, LA

12 PM

Southern Miss

Louisiana

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Men's Basketball Closes Louisiana Swing Saturday in Lafayette

1/2/2026 6:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Southern Miss Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss (8-7, 2-1 Sun Belt) ends its three-game road trip on Saturday in Lafayette against Louisiana (3-12, 1-2 Sun Belt) just 16 days after beating the Cajuns in Hattiesburg. The final game of the Louisiana swing will tip off at 12 p.m. inside the Cajundome.

Game 16: Southern Miss (8-7, 2-1 Sun Belt) at Louisiana (3-12, 1-2 Sun Belt)
Saturday, January 3 at 12 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
Cajundome (13,500)

Fans can listen on the Southern Miss Radio Network, Southern Miss Game Day App, or their local Southern Miss Network affiliate to hear John Cox on the call. The game will air on ESPN+ with Dan McDonald (pxp) and Eric Mouton (color).

NEWS AND NOTES
- Tylik Weeks upped his scoring average to 17.8 points per game after scoring 24 in the win over ULM on Thursday. Curt Lewis, Dylan Brumfield and Djahi Binet all went for 14 points — Binet added 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the season
- Southern Miss won its Sun Belt opener against Louisiana, 62-54, in a low-scoring affair. Israel Hart dropped a season-best 17 points in the win
- Weeks posted his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Ole Miss — the rebound total was a career best
- The Golden Eagles picked up a 68-60 win over Grambling on last Monday, with Southern Miss coming back from a halftime deficit
- Weeks was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week as he took home MVP honors at the Pensacola Invitational
- Outside of an 11-point deficit at the half against North Florida, Southern Miss dominated the Pensacola Invitational and took home its second MTE title under Jay Ladner
- Weeks scored 37 points in the win over North Florida, which was the 11th-most in program history and the second-most by any Sun Belt player since the 2022-23 season
- Southern Miss fell on the road at South Carolina on Nov. 9 as the Gamecocks used a three-point barrage to finish the comeback in overtime. Weeks dropped a career-high 20 points, while Taveras scored 25 and Israel Hart had 17
- Felipe Patino went off for 18 points on six three-pointers in the win over Tougaloo on Nov. 6. Taveras produced a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double and Israel Hart had 11 points
- The Golden Eagles return only four players from last season: Dalyn Brandon, Brewer Carruth, Tegra Izay, Jett Montgomery
- Ladner and Co. brought in 14 newcomers during the offseason: DJahi Binet, Dylan Brumfield, Robert Cowherd, Fallou Diagne, IJ Ezuma, Israel Hart, Blake Lander, Curt Lewis, Felipe Patino, EJ Paymon, Isaac Taveras, Chiante' Tramble, Chandler Watts, Tylik Weeks
- The 2025-26 season marks the 106th season of Southern Miss basketball and the 61st season inside Reed Green Coliseum
- Southern Miss was voted 12th in the preseason poll after finishing in 12th last season in the league standings

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
- The Ragin' Cajuns have won two of their last three after picking up wins over ULM and Norfolk State
- Louisiana is coming off a 63-58 loss to South Alabama on Wednesday. Jaxon Olvera scored 18 points and Dorian Finister added 17
- Olvera leads Louisiana in scoring at 12.9 points per contest. Olvera (4.3) and Finister (5.0) are both leading the team in rebounding
- Louisiana's 76 points scored against ULM marked the first time the Cajuns scored 70+ points
- The Ragin' Cajuns rank last in the Sun Belt scoring offense (57.9) and scoring margin (-10.3). They rank third in scoring defense (68.2), 13th in field goal percentage (.384), and sixth in opponent field goal percentage (.429)

SERIES HISTORY
- Saturday's meeting is the 64th all-time between the two schools, which includes a 13-year gap of not playing from 2009-22
-The Cajuns took the first meeting in 2948 and won the next four after that. Southern Miss' first win over Louisiana was in 1952 in Hattiesburg
- Southern Miss leads the series, 4-3, since joining the Sun Belt ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Golden Eagles have won two of the last three, including the game just over two weeks ago

HOME SWEET REED GREEN
- Southern Miss is 39-10 at The Greenhouse since the start of the 2022-23 season
- Southern Miss moved to 69-12 in home openers dating back to the 1956-56 season when the Golden Eagles fell to Louisiana Tech
- The first home-opening win for Southern Miss was against Tyndall Field (Fla.) to open the 1947-48 season
- The Golden Eagles are now 7-0 in home openers under Jay Ladner, while six of those have been double-digit wins

ON THIS DAY
Date: January 3
- Southern Miss is 14-8 when playing on January 3. In 1951, Southern Miss picked up a 91-63 win over Georgetown (Ky.) on the road. The Golden Eagles also scored a program-record 135 points on a record 18 three-pointers against Dillard in 2013.

THE VETERAN OF THE COUNTRY
- Curt Lewis enters the season as one of the oldest players in Division I basketball. The Louisville, Ky., product was born on May 19, 1999
- Below is a list of the oldest players in the country

Ramel Bethea, Green Bay - July 27, 1996
Nginyu Ngala, Kansas - April 3, 1999
Curt Lewis, Southern Miss - May 19, 1999
Ibrahim Olajuwon, FIU - May 26, 1999
Hunter Erickson, Hawaii - September 14, 1999
Bouna Kebe, Delaware - December 24, 1999

LOADED NON-CON SLATE
- Southern Miss had a loaded non-conference slate that includes only five home games
- Notable stops on the road included South Carolina, Miami (Fla.), Radford, and LSU. The Golden Eagles also played Ole Miss at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum
- Other non-conference games were Buffalo, Tougaloo, Grambling (two times), William Carey, North Florida, UT Martin/Prairie View A&M, and the second MAC-SBC Challenge opponent in February

Single-game and season tickets are available via southernmiss.com/tickets, calling 1-800-844-TICK, or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office during normal business hours.

Fans can follow @SouthernMissMBB on social media to get the latest Golden Eagle news.