The Southern Miss men’s basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with a rowdy crowd at the Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg and outpaced the Bowling Green Falcons 77-68 in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Conference Challenge on Monday night.
Golden Eagle guard Christian Watson connected on a three-point basket at the 15:12 mark in the first half to give Southern Miss a 5-3 lead that the team would never relinquish. Southern Miss shot nearly 50% from the floor and had all five starters score reach double figures on the scoreboard.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles forced the Falcons to turn the ball over 13 times, blocked 10 shots, and notched nine steals on the night.
Scoring summary
The Golden Eagles held the lead for a large portion of the game, but never surpassed a five-point advantage in the first half until preseason All-Sun Belt guard Andre Curbelo and floor general Neftali Alvarez finished the first half on an 8-0 run. Southern Miss led 43-33 at the intermission.
Coming back out of the gates, the Falcons went on a 17-8 run pulling within two points at the 14:58 mark, but the Golden Eagles countered on an 11-2 run until a Bowling Green timeout with 11 minutes left in the game. The Falcons never cut the deficit any lower than six points. Southern Miss ended the contest by making four straight free throws and a layup to mount a 77-68 win.
Coach’s comments
Beginning his sixth season as Southern Miss’ head basketball coach, Jay Ladner had mixed reviews from his squad’s performance but had a mostly positive outlook.
“In terms of preparation, we had to focus on who we were as they had a little advantage on us and I thought we had some veteran players that made some minor defensive adjustments,” Ladner said. “Overall, I wasn’t happy with our transition defense, it’s controllable, and I thought once we got that under control, we did a really good job at half-court and I’m really anxious to see where we go.”
Numbers never lie
Southern Miss’ starting five each scored in double digits. Christian Watson had 17 points, Andre Curbelo amassed 16, Neftali Alvarez scored 14, DeAntoni Gordon had 13, and Denijay Harris accounted for 11.
The starting crew also stood out defensively, combining for 26 rebounds, eight blocks, and seven steals. Collectively, Southern Miss outscored Bowling Green 40-32 from the paint, 14-9 on fastbreaks, and had 17 assists to the Falcons’ 11.
Next Up
The Golden Eagles will hit the road on Thursday to play UAB at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
