Men's Basketabll Closes Regular Season on Friday Night at South Alabama

Friday, February 27

Mobile, AL

7:30 PM

Southern Miss

South Alabama

Men's Basketabll Closes Regular Season on Friday Night at South Alabama

2/26/2026 10:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Southern Miss Game Notes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss (15-15, 8-9 Sun Belt) closes the regular season at South Alabama (21-9, 11-6 Sun Belt) on Friday night. The two rivals are slated to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT inside the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.

Game 31: Southern Miss (15-15, 8-9 Sun Belt) at South Alabama (21-9, 11-6 Sun Belt)
Friday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: Southern Miss Radio Network
Mitchell Center (10,000)

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 Pat Greenwood (pxp) and Bart Hyche (color).

NEWS AND NOTES
- The Golden Eagles are coming off an 89-84 loss at Arkansas State on Tuesday night. The Red Wolves went to the line 25 times more than Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles committed 15 more fouls as well
- Southern Miss had an 86-81 win over Old Dominion, where the Golden Eagles erased an 18-point deficit. The comeback win is the fourth-largest in program history, and Jay Ladner's second 18-point comeback win as head coach
- Tylik Weeks has moved into fourth all-time in single-season free throws with 176. He now trails Jeremy Wise, who is in third with 177 makes in the 2008-09 season
- Weeks scored 32 points against Troy on Feb. 14, with 30 of those points coming in the second half. He is the only Golden Eagle to score 30 points in a 20-minute half
-Djahi Binet was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Feb. 10 after averaging 24.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in games against Marshall and Kent State
- Southern Miss helped the Sun Belt to a 14-12 win in the MAC-SBC Challenge after beating Kent State, 66-65, on Feb. 7 at Reed Green Coliseum
- Binet became the first player in the Sun Belt this season to have a 30-point, 15-rebound game as he went for 31 points and 15 boards at Marshall on Feb. 4
- Southern Miss limited its turnover number to a season-low seven at Coastal Carolina on Jan. 24
- 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
- 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
- South Alabama is 21-9 and coming off an 89-54 win over ULM. The Jaguars are 3-2 in their last five, with losses coming on the road at Marshall and at home against Texas State
- Chaze Harris has scored in double figures in 20-straight games, including a 26-point night against Southern Miss in the first outing this season. Jayden Cooper went for 34 points in that same game
- South Alabama ranks third nationally in turnovers committed per game (8.8) and has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in 17 games this season, resulting in the 15th-ranked turnover margin nationally (+3.6)
- The Jaguars lead the Sun Belt in field goal percentage (47.0), fouls per game (12.7), field goal percentage defense (38.1), turnover margin (3.6), turnovers per game (8.8), and winning percentage (70.0)

SERIES HISTORY
- Southern Miss and South Alabama are slated to meet for the 55th time in the series history
- The series is tied 27-27 with South Alabama holding a 14-12 edge in Mobile
- South Alabama has won the last seven games, also winning the first meeting this season by six in Hattiesburg

CHARITY STRIPE LIVIN'
- Southern Miss has made a living at the free-throw line this season, making at least 20 free throws in 11 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 45-12 at The Greenhouse since the start of the 2022-23 season and ended the 2025-26 season 10-3
- 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 7-0 in home openers under Jay Ladner, while six of those have been double-digit wins

ON THIS DAY
Date: February 27
- Southern Miss is 9-6 when playing on February 27. Both Tae Hardy (32) and Bruce Miller (30) are the only two Golden Eagles to score at least 30 points on this date. Southern Miss' first February 27 win was in 1952, topping Louisiana College, 92-53, in the Gulf States Conference Tournament. The last time the Golden Eagles played on this date was against FAU in 2021, which was a 73-66 loss at Reed Green Coliseum

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

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