Southern Miss Men's Basketball
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Southern Miss Men’s Basketball David Cohen, SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES (2-3, 0-0 C-USA) Director of Communications Head Coach: Jay Ladner (Southern Miss, 1988) • 601-266-6240 (o) Record at Southern Miss: 11-25 (second season), Career Record: 87-113 (seventh season) • 817-739-6585 (c) *first six wins vacated by previous tenure • [email protected] • @DavidECohen_ ULM WARHAWKS (2-3, 0-0 SUN BELT) Southern Miss Athletics Head Coach: Keith Richard (ULM, 1982) • 118 College Drive #5017 Record at ULM: 122-197 (11th season), Career Record: 272-314 (20th season) • Hattiesburg, Miss. 39406-0001 Game Information Golden Eagle Notes Date / Time: – Southern Miss never trailed and led by as much as 16 before holding on late to win at Lamar, 66-63, on Tuesday night. Artur Saturday, Dec. 19 2 p.m. CT Konontsuk’s offensive rebound off a free-throw miss, and his subsequent swishes at the line, with nine seconds left marked the play of the game. The sophomore from Estonia finished with 15 points (second in his career behind 19 on No. 7 Gonzaga last season) and is 7-for-12 from deep the last two games. Site / Venue: Hattiesburg, Miss. Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) – The Golden Eagles have surpassed 50-percent shooting in back-to-back games for the first time since last January in wins over Rice and UAB. The squad is also a scorching 24-from-55 from deep (43.6 percent) in that span after starting 14-for-55 (25.5 TV: N/A percent). Talent: N/A – Southern Miss has not had multiple games with the same lineup this year, utilizing nine players overall. Jaron Pierre Jr. has earned back-to-back starts and was also named the most-recent C-USA Freshman of the Week, averaging 18.0 points and 8.0 Radio: USM Learfield IMG College rebounds per game. Tae Hardy came off the bench against South Alabama for the first time and produced an eight-assist, no- Talent: John Cox turnover outing in his 20 minutes. He returned to the lineup at Lamar and had 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Live Stats: SouthernMiss.com – A fast start in Saturday’s game would be key to the team’s success. Nine of Jay Ladner’s 11 wins have come when leading or @SouthernMissMBB tied at the half. In the Golden Eagles’ two defeats this year, it trailed 21-9 and 22-9 to Jacksonville and Tulane, respectively. Against South Alabama, in which Southern Miss did lead for 33:29 before ultimately falling, it started 16-6. The Black and Gold Video: CUSA.tv reeled off a 14-0 run against Lamar to lead 24-9. Talent: John Cox – LaDavius Draine enters the game with 967 points while seeking to become the program’s 38th member of the 1,000-point club. The most-recent addition was Cortez Edwards, who reached the milestone in November 2018 at Troy. Draine also has 189 Series History (USM leads 22-15) three-pointers to his name, which is five away from tying Casey Fisher (1984-88). Bernard Haslett holds the record (316 from Home 16-5 1990-94). Away 5-10 Neutral 1-0 – Southern Miss has out-rebounded four of its five opponents this year, with Tyler Stevenson leading the way at 8.6 per game. He is up from 2.3 and 6.6 in the previous years and leading the team with a 57.9 field-goal percentage. Staying on the shooting Ladner vs. ULM 0-1 route, Southern Miss is now 9-1 under Ladner when hitting above 50 percent, with this year’s USA loss being the only mark. – UAB has been streaky since that titanic battle – Rebounding has the potential to be the story of the game. Southern Miss has flipped the script on the glass this year, boasting in Hattiesburg. The Blazers won their next four Schedule/Results a +6.0 margin. Its 21 offensive rebounds in the opener were its most since the 2015-16 opener at Memphis. The Warhawks games, then dropped the next four to Middle Date Opponent Time (CT)/Result enter with a -6.7 in the same column. The Golden Eagles out-rebounded Lamar 36-27 on Tuesday night. Nov. 28 vs. North Dakota State^ CCD – These two teams have met 37 times, but not since 1999, which also marked ULM’s first season after its Northeast Louisiana Nov. 29 at Milwaukee^ CCD renaming. Nov. 28 at Jacksonville L, 51-66 Dec. 2 William Carey W, 80-53 – This is a battle of two coaches and their alma maters. Ladner’s only head-to-head battle with ULM and Keith Richard came in Dec. 5 at Southern Illinois CCD the 2017-18 season, an 86-75 loss in Monroe. Ladner’s Southeastern Louisiana team ultimately won the Southland Conference Dec. 9 at Tulane L, 38-58 title, while the Warhawks made the CIT. Dec. 12 South Alabama L, 75-76 Dec. 15 at Lamar W, 66-63 – Exactly like Southern Miss, ULM rebounded from a buzzer-beating defeat to win its next contest, a 66-55 victory over Dec. 19 ULM 2 p.m. preseason Southland favorite Stephen F. Austin. It did drop its Wednesday contest, however, to Grambling after being unable Dec. 28 Loyola (New Orleans 2 p.m. to rally from a 40-27 halftime deficit. Jan. 1 UTEP • 7 p.m. Jan. 2 UTEP • 4 p.m. Probable Starters Jan. 8 at UAB • 6:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at UAB • 4 p.m. Jan. 15 Middle Tennessee • 7 p.m. Jan. 16 Middle Tennessee • 4 p.m. Jan. 22 at UTSA • TBA Jan. 23 at UTSA • TBA Jan. 28 Louisiana Tech • 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at Louisiana Tech • 2 p.m. Feb. 5 at Rice • TBA Feb. 6 at Rice • TBA Feb. 12 North Texas • 7 p.m. 1 10 11 14 55 Feb. 13 North Texas • 4 p.m. Feb. 19 at FIU • TBA Denijay Harris Tae Hardy LaDavius Draine Tyler Stevenson Jaron Pierre Jr. Feb. 20 at FIU • TBA 4.0 ppg | 6.4 rpg 8.6 ppg | 2.0 rpg 9.2 ppg | 3.6 rpg 11.0 ppg | 8.6 rpg 11.5 ppg | 4.8 rpg Feb. 26 Florida Atlantic • 7 p.m. Feb. 27 Florida Atlantic • 4 p.m. 6-7 | 215 | RSo. 6-3 | 175 | Jr. 6-4 | 210 | Sr. 6-8 | 225 | Jr. 6-5 | 185 | Fr. March 4 OPEN TBA Columbus, Miss. Ellenwood, Ga. Calhoun City, Miss. Columbus, Miss. New Orleans, La. March 6 OPEN TBA M10-13 Conference USA Championships Southern Miss Name Usage • – Denotes Conference USA Game The University of Southern Mississippi has adopted “Southern Miss” as its official nickname. A majority of alumni, fans, and supporters ^ – MKE Classic (Milwaukee) prefer the “Southern Miss” nickname. Though not preferred, names such as “USM” and the university’s full name will continue to be approved by the licensing department for use on imprinted merchandise. Nicknames including “S. Mississippi,” “SO. Mississippi,” “S. Miss,” and “Southern” are not acceptable. Additionally, when using the univer- sity’s full name, “The” must be included in the title, i.e., The University of Southern Mississippi. 2020-21 SOUTHERN MISS BASKETBALL www.southernmiss.com 2020-21 Southern Miss Basketball Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown / Previous School 0 Tyler Morman F 6-8 225 RJr. Mableton, Ga./Wyoming 1 Denijay Harris F 6-7 215 RSo. Columbus, Miss./SW Mississippi CC 2 Justin Johnson G/F 6-6 185 Jr. Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Georgia Tech 3 Angel Smith G 6-5 185 RFr. Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Northeast HS 4 Blake Roberts G 6-2 185 Fr. Hattiesburg, Miss./Oak Grove HS 5 DeAndre Pinckney F 6-8 225 Jr. Carol City, Fla./Broward CC 10 Tae Hardy G 6-3 175 Jr. Ellenwood, Ga./Pearl River CC 11 LaDavius Draine G 6-4 210 Sr. Calhoun City, Miss./Calhoun City HS 13 Kai Steinman G 6-3 191 Fr. Champaign, Ill./Aspire Academy 14 Tyler Stevenson F 6-8 225 Jr. Columbus, Miss./New Hope HS 15 Clay Weatherspoon G 6-2 210 RSr. Ridgeland, Miss./Ridgeland HS 20 Javarzia Belton F 6-10 275 Fr. Calhoun Falls, S.C./Moravian Prep (N.C.) 21 Jay Malone G 6-0 167 RJr. Meridian, Miss./SW Mississippi CC 22 Jeffery Armstrong G 6-0 175 RFr. Rainsville, Ala./Massanutten Military 34 Artur Konontsuk F 6-8 213 So. Parnu, Estonia/Get Better Academy 44 Mark Jaakson G 6-8 210 Fr. Tallinn, Estonia/Get Better Academy 55 Jaron Pierre, Jr. G 6-5 185 Fr. New Orleans, La./St. Augustine HS Coaching / Support Staff Head Coach: Jay Ladner, second season (Southern Miss, 1988) Associate Head Coach: Kyle Roane, second season (Southern Miss, 1995) Assistant Coach: Dalonte Hill, second season (Charlotte, 2001) Assistant Coach: Clarence Weatherspoon, fifth season (Southern Miss, 1993) Director of Operations: Garland Wilson, second season (Jacksonville State, 2009) Video Coordinator: Chris Vincent, first season (Springfield, 2013) Graduate Assistant: Isaiah Carson (Southwest Christian, 2019) Administrative Assistant: Jeremy Tekulve, second season (Southern Miss, 2017) Squad Breakdown By Class Artur Konontsuk By State Louisiana (1) South Carolina (1) Seniors (2) Alabama (1) Jaron Pierre, Jr. (New Orleans) Javarzia Belton (Calhoun Falls) LaDavius Draine Freshmen (7) Jeffery Armstrong (Rainsville) Clay Weatherspoon Angel Smith (R) Illinois (1) Estonia (2) Blake Roberts Florida (3) Kai Steinman (Champaign) Mark Jaakson (Tallinn) Juniors (6) Kai Steinman Justin Johnson (Fort Artur Konontsuk (Parnu) Tyler Morman Javarzia Belton Lauderdale) Mississippi (6) Justin Johnson Jeffery Armstrong (R) DeAndre Pinckney (Carol City) LaDavius Draine (Calhoun DeAndre Pinckney Mark Jaakson Angel Smith (Fort Lauderdale) City) Tae Hardy Jaron Pierre, Jr.