Being down 18 points with just over three minutes left in the first half and already committing 17 turnovers was far from ideal for Southern Miss. But it marked the beginning of the fourth-largest comeback in school history as the Golden Eagles went on to beat Old Dominion 86-81 on Saturday.
Behind eight straight points from Izzy Hart, Southern Miss (15-14, 8-8 Sun Belt) closed the first half on a 15-4 run to cut Old Dominion’s (10-19, 6-10) lead to 47-40 at the break. The Golden Eagles then turned up the defense in the second half – finishing with 21 rebounds, five blocks, and eight steals after halftime – to rally for the victory in Hattiesburg.
Hart delivered a career night, scoring 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting and knocking down four 3-pointers. Old Dominion, which shot 51.7% in the first half, struggled after the break, committing 11 second-half turnovers and making just 10 field goals.
Scoring summary
Old Dominion jumped out with an early 8-0 run. Trailing 15-6, Southern Miss got a baseline drive and score from Isaac Taveras to spark momentum, and the Golden Eagles soon responded with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to one in less than 90 seconds. The burst included a pair of Tylik Weeks 3-point plays and a put-back layup from Taveras.
Turnovers, however, plagued Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles committed eight in the first nine minutes, allowing the Monarchs to rebuild their lead to six with under 12 minutes remaining in the half.
Old Dominion stretched its run to 12-2 before Southern Miss found life again. Chiante’ Tramble connected with Djahi Binet on an alley-oop to energize the crowd, and the defense forced a shot-clock violation on the next possession. As the Monarchs went scoreless for more than three minutes, Southern Miss trimmed the deficit to seven.
Despite 18 first-half turnovers, the Golden Eagles’ late 15-4 surge – fueled by two Hart 3-pointers and a tough Weeks layup with 24 seconds left – sent them into halftime trailing just seven. Their largest deficit of the first half was 43-25 before the halftime score was 47-40 in favor of Old Dominion.
Southern Miss tied the game at 50-50 less than three minutes into the second half with a 6-0 run. Taveras then gave the Golden Eagles their first lead, 54-52, with a steal and emphatic dunk that brought the Reed Green crowd to its feet.
Hart’s third 3-pointer pushed the lead to five. Old Dominion answered with a pair of layups to cut it to one with 12:05 remaining, but Southern Miss kept extending its advantage. Hart made two free throws at the 8:37 mark to stretch the lead to seven.
Following a timeout with Southern Miss up 74-67 and four players in double figures, Hart buried his fourth 3-pointer to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the night at 10.
That proved to be one of the team’s final field goals. Southern Miss went 1-of-5 from the floor over the final five minutes, allowing Old Dominion to go on a 6-0 run and trim the lead to one with 2:35 left. Weeks ended the run with a crucial and-one, which served as the Golden Eagles’ final made field goal.
The Monarchs cut the deficit to two with 17 seconds remaining after a pair of free throws. But Weeks and Binet combined to go 3-of-4 at the line in the final 15 seconds to seal the 86-81 win.
What the coach said
Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner acknowledged his team did not play its best basketball but praised its resilience as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola approaches.
“I’m not surprised by Old Dominion as they are very well coached and we saw a very talented team,” Ladner said. “What we truly have are a bunch of guys that have some resiliency to them. There was no panic in the locker room at halftime. Winning basketball games has to do with getting the most possessions executed flawlessly.”
By the numbers
Despite committing a grand total of 26 turnovers, Southern Miss shot 55% from the floor and outrebounded Old Dominion (39-25). The Golden Eagles also dominated when it came to scoring in the paint (46-22).
Weeks led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Hart was second on the team with 21 points but hit four crucial 3-pointers. Binet narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Taveras added 16 points despite six turnovers.
Ketron Shaw led Old Dominion with 18 points, followed by Jordan Battle with 17. LJ Thomas and Jared Turner also scored in double figures, combining for 27 points.
Next up
Southern Miss begins a two-game road stretch to close the 2025-26 regular season. It begins with Arkansas State on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
