Men's Basketball Back at RGC for Brief Stint

Thursday, January 8

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7 PM

Southern Miss

Texas State

Men's Basketball Back at RGC for Brief Stint

1/7/2026 2:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Southern Miss Notes Texas State Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss (9-7, 3-1 Sun Belt) makes its 2026 debut at The Greenhouse on Thursday night as it hosts Texas State (9-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. The Golden Eagles are coming off a weekend sweep over ULM and Louisiana, marking the best road start in league play in over 10 seasons.

Game 17: Southern Miss (9-7, 3-1 Sun Belt) vs. Texas State (9-7, 2-2 Sun Belt)
Thursday, January 8 at 7 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
Reed Green Coliseum (8,095)

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 Lee Roberts (pxp) and Larry Boyd (color).

NEWS AND NOTES
- Tylik Weeks averages 17.4 points per game after posting a 24-point outing against ULM. Djahi Binet also had a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in the Thursday win and then dropped a career-high 24 points against Louisiana
- 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
- Texas State is coming off an 84-79 win over ULM in Monroe, which brought the Bobcats to 9-7 overall and 2-2 in Sun Belt play
- After 13 years competing in the Sun Conference, this season will be the last for Texas State. It was announced on June 30 that the Bobcats had joined the revamped Pac-12 Conference beginning with the 2026-27 season
- DJ Hall became the first Texas State freshman to post a 20-10 double-double in nine years after he posted 23 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Lehigh. Hall is now averaging 13.2 points per game, which is second on the team
- Mark Drone leads Texas State in scoring at 14.3 points per game and dished out 41 assists this season. Hall is averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game
- Texas State leads the SBC in fastbreak points and rebounding margin, while ranking second in steals per game and field goal percentage

SERIES HISTORY
- Thursday's meeting is the 8th all-time, while each meeting has been since the Golden Eagles joined the Sun Belt in 2022
- Southern Miss' most notable win over Texas State was in San Marcos on Feb. 24, 2023, when a 79-69 win clinched the regular season title for the Golden Eagles
- Southern Miss is 3-0 at Reed Green Coliseum against Texas State, including a 92-88 OT win last season. Single digits have decided all three games

Charity Stripe Livin'
- Southern Miss has made a living at the free-throw line this season, making at least 20 free throws in six games. The last time Southern Miss made at least 20 free throws 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 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 8
- Southern Miss is 7-12 when playing on January 8th. David Wall scored 31 points at Louisville in 2000, which is the most points scored by a Golden Eagle on January 8th. In the program's first game on this day, the Golden Eagles won 49-42 at Mississippi College. Southern Miss last played in 2015 at UTSA, losing 77-57 on the road. The last January 8th win was over TCU in 2003, winning 72-64 at The Greenhouse

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.