Southern Miss Men's Basketball
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Southern Miss Men’s Basketball David Cohen, SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES (5-6, 1-3 C-USA) Director of Communications Head Coach: Jay Ladner (Southern Miss, 1988) • 601-266-6240 (o) Record at Southern Miss: 14-28 (second season), Career Record: 90-116 (seventh season) • 817-739-6585 (c) *first six wins vacated by previous tenure • [email protected] • @DavidECohen_ MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (3-5, 1-1 C-USA) Head Coach: Nick McDevitt (UNC Asheville, 2001) Southern Miss Athletics • 118 College Drive #5017 Record at MT: 22-49 (third season), Career Record: 120-115 (eighth season) • Hattiesburg, Miss. 39406-0001 Game Information Golden Eagle Notes Dates / Times: – Revenge will be on the mind for Southern Miss as it faces the Blue Raiders, a squad that won all three meetings last season Friday, Jan. 15 7 p.m. CT (twice in C-USA bonus play over the final four games). Middle Tennessee’s specialized zone defense led it to win each game by an average margin of 63.7 to 59.3. Tyler Stevenson was Southern Miss’ top performer over those matchups (14.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, Saturday, Jan. 16 4 p.m. CT 60.0 FG% and 12-for-18 at the foul line). Site / Venue: Hattiesburg, Miss. – The Golden Eagles dropped each game to UAB last weekend, C-USA’s top team in the NET (entered at 59). Southern Miss fell Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) victim to a large run that began each of the four halves and simply ran out of time Saturday. The squad rallied from 11 down with 6:51 to play and forced a shot-clock violation with 25 ticks left. A turnover led to two UAB free-throws that iced the game. TV: ESPN+ Southern Miss also did not make any subs after the 9:21 mark of the second half. Talent: Lee Roberts, Larry Boyd – The wins-and-losses splits are transparent. The team’s five victories see it averaging 70.8 points on 45.6 percent shooting, while also allowing 56.6 ppg. The defeats’ numbers flip to 57.3, 41.4 and 68.5, respectively. As a whole, the Golden Eagles rank second Radio: USM Learfield IMG College in C-USA (and No. 33 nationally) in allowing just 63.1 ppg, which is the team’s best since 2009-10 (59.8 ppg). Yet in its last three Talent: John Cox games (each of them losses), the squad is shooting 49.2 percent, marked up from 42.9 the previous three (all wins). Three-point shooting and assist-turnover ratio are other deciding factors. Live Stats: SouthernMiss.com @SouthernMissMBB – Southern Miss has limited its rotation over the first four games of C-USA play, as only eight players have appeared in each one. The Golden Eagles are also averaging just 9.8 three-point attempts per game in C-USA play, while those same opponents are averaging 24.3. Stevenson leads the team in league scoring (17.3 ppg), shooting (51.0 percent), free-throw makes, attempts Video: WatchESPN.com and percentage (73.9) and minutes (37.8 mpg). Series History (MT leads 10-3) – Jay Malone’s 33 minutes on Saturday were his most against a Division I opponent this year (24 at Tulane). He played the entire Home 2-4 second half and finished with a season-high eight points. It was his first time playing 20-plus minutes since the Dec. 15 win at Away 0-6 Lamar, six games prior. He is averaging 17.1 mpg this year after 28.4 last season, despite not playing after Jan. 18. Neutral 1-0 – DeAndre Pinckney averaged just 13 mpg prior to C-USA play as he rallied back from injury in his first start. Since then, he is Ladner vs. MT 0-3 averaging 26.5 mpg, which included his first double-double in the Jan. 1 win over UTEP (11 points, 10 rebounds). He had career-highs of 15 points with eight rebounds as he returned to the lineup Saturday, including 3-for-4 from deep (1-for-7 prior). – UAB has been streaky since that titanic battle in Hattiesburg. The Blazers won their next four Schedule/Results – Rebounding has a key strength. Southern Miss boasts a plus-4.1 margin, which is fourth in C-USA. For reference, last year’s games, then dropped the next four to Middle Date Opponent Time (CT)/Result team was plus-1.7. Stevenson is fifth in C-USA with 7.1 rpg, and 11 of the 14 wins under Jay Ladner have come when winning that stat. Southern Miss had won four-straight after leading at the half before these last three games’ intermission deficits led Nov. 28 vs. North Dakota State^ CCD to defeats. The Blazers’ 40 points at the break Friday were the most allowed by Southern Miss in that period yet and came on Nov. 29 at Milwaukee^ CCD the heels of UTEP’s 47 to close Saturday. Nov. 28 at Jacksonville L, 51-66 Dec. 2 William Carey W, 80-53 – LaDavius Draine passed Glenn Mason (1972-75) and Craig Craft (2005-09) for No. 35 on the school’s career scoring list with Dec. 5 at Southern Illinois CCD 1,034 points. Next up is Roy Danforth (1958-62) and Gary Flowers (2009-11) with 1,066 and 1,078, respectively. Dec. 9 at Tulane L, 38-58 Dec. 12 South Alabama L, 75-76 – Middle Tennessee was snake-bitten by bad schedule luck with COVID-19, having two games apiece postponed/canceled Dec. 15 at Lamar W, 66-63 against Bellarmine and FAU. After falling to FIU on Friday in a defensive struggle, the Blue Raiders erupted with a 31-9 lead Dec. 19 ULM W, 60-47 over the first 10 minutes and never looked back in a 67-56 win. Its top two scorers, Dontrell Shuler (11.7 ppg) and Jordan Davis Dec. 28 Loyola (New Orleans) W, 74-54 (10.9), are transfers from Charleston Southern and Dayton. Jan. 1 UTEP • W, 74-66 (OT) Jan. 2 UTEP • L, 62-77 Probable Starters Jan. 8 at UAB • L, 60-72 Jan. 9 at UAB • L, 58-62 Jan. 15 Middle Tennessee • 7 p.m. Jan. 16 Middle Tennessee • 4 p.m. Jan. 22 at UTSA • 6 p.m. Jan. 23 at UTSA • 3 p.m. Jan. 28 Louisiana Tech • 6 p.m. Jan. 30 at Louisiana Tech • 2 p.m. Feb. 5 at Rice • 7 p.m. Feb. 6 at Rice • 4 p.m. Feb. 12 North Texas • 7 p.m. 5 10 11 14 55 Feb. 13 North Texas • 4 p.m. Feb. 19 at FIU • 6 p.m. DeAndre Pinckney Tae Hardy LaDavius Draine Tyler Stevenson Jaron Pierre Jr. Feb. 20 at FIU • TBD 6.4 ppg | 4.7 rpg 10.1 ppg | 1.9 rpg 10.3 ppg | 5.1 rpg 12.6 ppg | 7.1 rpg 9.9 ppg | 3.8 rpg Feb. 26 Florida Atlantic • 7 p.m. Feb. 27 Florida Atlantic • 4 p.m. 6-8 | 225 | Jr. 6-3 | 175 | Jr. 6-4 | 210 | Sr. 6-8 | 225 | Jr. 6-5 | 185 | Fr. March 4 OPEN TBD Carol City, Fla. Ellenwood, Ga. Calhoun City, Miss. Columbus, Miss. New Orleans, La. March 6 OPEN TBD 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 Quick Facts No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown / Previous School Location: Hattiesburg, Miss. Founded: 1910 0 Tyler Morman F 6-8 225 RJr. Mableton, Ga./Wyoming Enrollment: 14,845 1 Denijay Harris F 6-7 215 RSo. Columbus, Miss./SW Mississippi CC Nickname: Golden Eagles 2 Justin Johnson G/F 6-6 185 Jr. Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Georgia Tech School Colors: Black and Gold Arena: Reed Green Coliseum 4 Blake Roberts G 6-2 185 Fr. Hattiesburg, Miss./Oak Grove HS Capacity: 8,095 5 DeAndre Pinckney F 6-8 225 Jr. Carol City, Fla./Broward CC Affiliation: NCAA Division I 10 Tae Hardy G 6-3 175 Jr. Ellenwood, Ga./Pearl River CC Conference: Conference USA 11 LaDavius Draine G 6-4 210 Sr. Calhoun City, Miss./Calhoun City HS President: Dr. Rodney Bennett Alma Mater: Middle Tennessee, 1990 14 Tyler Stevenson F 6-8 225 Jr. Columbus, Miss./New Hope HS Athletics Director: Jeremy McClain 15 Clay Weatherspoon G 6-2 210 RSr. Ridgeland, Miss./Ridgeland HS Alma Mater: Delta State, 1999 20 Javarzia Belton F 6-10 275 Fr. Calhoun Falls, S.C./Moravian Prep (N.C.) Faculty Athletic Representative: Dr. Alan Thompson Alma Mater: Texas State, 1991 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 History 34 Artur Konontsuk F 6-8 213 So. Parnu, Estonia/Get Better Academy First Season: 1912-13 44 Mark Jaakson G 6-8 210 Fr. Tallinn, Estonia/Get Better Academy Overall All-Time Record: 1,250-1,088 (97th season) NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 55 Jaron Pierre, Jr.