Southern Miss Closes Four-Game Road Swing at Coastal Carolina

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss (11-10, 5-4 Sun Belt) men's basketball closes out its four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon at Coastal Carolina (12-9, 5-4 Sun Belt). Tip-off from the HTC Center in Conway is slated for 12 p.m. CT.

Game 22: Southern Miss (11-10, 5-4 Sun Belt) at Coastal Carolina (12-9, 5-4 Sun Belt)
Saturday, January 24 at 12 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
HTC Center (3,600)

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 Tony Dunkin (pxp) and Kyle Rush (color).

NEWS AND NOTES
- Southern Miss is off to a 5-4 start in league play after starting 5-1. The Golden Eagles have lost three-straight road games to Troy, Texas State and Georgia State
- Southern Miss picked up two wins in its first Sun Belt road trip, which is its best start in league play on the road in over 10 seasons
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Coastal Carolina secured its first four-game winning streak of the season after a 72-70 win over Texas State on Thursday night
» The Chanticleers have won four straight road games (Old Dominion, St. Joe's, Marshall, and Georgia Southern)
» Six of Coastal's seven games this month have been decided by five points or less. The Chants are 4-2 in those games
» Coastal Carolina shot at least 50 percent from the floor in two of its last four games, including a 56.6 percent clip in the win at Marshall
» The Chanticleers have made at least 10+ three pointers in eight games this season. They made a season-high 17 against Virginia Lynchburg. The last time they hit 10+ was in the win over Marshall on Jan. 14
» Second-year head coach Justin Gray has Coastal Carolina 5-3 at the HTC Center this season with wins over Virginia Lynchburg, Winthrop, Alabama A&M, App State, and Texas State
» Coastal Carolina ranks third in the Sun Belt for the fewest turnovers per game. The Chants are averaging just 10.1

SERIES HISTORY
- Saturday's meeting is the fourth all-time contest between the two. It's the second in Conway after the Golden Eagles won on the road in 2024
- Southern Miss won the last meeting, which was in the 2025 Sun Belt Tournament. The Golden Eagles won that contest 66-63
- Coastal Carolina won the 2025 meeting in Hattiesburg with an 87-78 win over Southern Miss at the end of the regular season

Charity Stripe Livin'
- Southern Miss has made a living at the free-throw line this season, making at least 20 free throws in seven games. The last time Southern Miss made at least 20 free throws in that many games was during the 2013-14 season, when it happened in 24 games
- A season-high 27 free throws were made in the win at Radford, while the Golden Eagles had 32 attempts in that game
- The 27 freebies were the most by a Jay Ladner-coached Southern Miss team. The top four of the Ladner era are all from this season

HOME SWEET REED GREEN
- Southern Miss is 41-10 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 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 24
- Southern Miss is 13-9 on January 24. Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina met on this date during the 2024 season, with the Golden Eagles winning 79-63. Southern Miss' first January 24 game was against Sanders Independents in the 1946-47 season -- the Golden Eagles won 49-39. During a 21-8 1990-91 season, Southern Miss topped Louisville on the road and went on to win the Metro Conference regular season title

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 Kent State the second MAC-SBC Challenge 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.

Southern Miss Closes Four-Game Road Swing at Coastal Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Curt Lewis

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics