Southern Miss snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, beating James Madison at home 73-65.
Tylik Weeks led Southern Miss (12-12, 6-6 Sun Belt) with his third outing in a row with 20 or more points, helping the Golden Eagles notch their first win since Jan. 10. The loss for James Madison (11-12, 4-7) ended a two-game winning streak in conference play.
Scoring summary
Izzy Hart scored back-to-back baskets for Southern Miss, giving the Golden Eagles an early 8-4 lead four minutes into the game. Weeks then hit a floater going into the first media timeout.
Dalyn Brandon had an impactful first career start, hitting a corner three to put Southern Miss ahead 15-11. He later added a dunk off a Chiante’ Tramble pass, pushing the Golden Eagles up 24-17 with under seven minutes left in the half.
James Madison closed the gap to three points during a three-minute Southern Miss scoring drought. Curt Lewis finally broke the dry spell with a three-pointer, giving Southern Miss an eight-point lead with 30 seconds until halftime. After a defensive stop, Southern Miss took a 29-21 lead into the break.
Weeks opened the second half with four quick points, and while James Madison battled back, Hart got a steal and scored to keep the Golden Eagles up by eight.
Southern Miss called a timeout after James Madison went on an 8-2 run, and the Dukes briefly took their only lead with a 5-0 run out of the timeout. Weeks responded with a personal 6-0 run leading into the under-eight media timeout and went on to score 14 straight points, putting Southern Miss up by 10.
Weeks energized the crowd with a left-handed slam, following by a putback dunk by Brandon. Center Djahi Binet added his own slam giving Southern Miss full momentum with two and a half minutes remaining.
The Golden Eagles made eight free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win before another Binet dunk put the game out of reach. The final score was 73-65.
What the coach said
Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner was visibly relieved after the game as his team broke out of a five-game losing streak, four of which came on the road.
“Southern Miss is a proud university with a proud athletic tradition, and when you are picked as low as we were, motivation is not a problem,” Ladner said, adding his team needs to maintain that motivation and grab the momentum with seven games left in the regular season. “We have a lot of improvement to make, but I’m happy tha we won. Winning Division I games is a hard task.”
Numbers never lie
The second half was an even affair, each team scoring 44, but Southern Miss got the win thanks to a first-half edge.
Southern Miss shot over 45% from the floor with Weeks (28 points) and Dylan Brumfield (10 points) scoring in double digits. It was the 22nd time this season Weeks has scored in double figures. The rest was an even attack with Brandon, Israel Hart, and Binet having seven or more.
Gabe Newhof and Bradley Douglas each scored 18 for James Madison, which as a team shot 43% from the field.
Southern Miss had the free-throw advantage, not only shooting more but knocking down 82% from the charity stripe. James Madison struggled after fouls, shooting 58% from the free-throw line.
Up next
Southern Miss: at Marshall on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT
James Madison: vs. Louisiana on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT
