Southern Miss will be looking to build on its excellent start to the season when it travels to Louisiana on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles have won their first two conference games, including Saturday’s 76-70 win against Appalachian State. Louisiana is riding a three-game losing streak following its 70-66 setback at Old Dominion on Saturday.
Southern Miss got off to a phenomenal start this season, winning eight straight games to open the campaign. The Golden Eagles recorded road wins at Vanderbilt and at Liberty during that stretch, despite being 16.5-point underdogs against the Commodores and 11-point underdogs against the Flames. They did not lose a game until falling at Northwestern State in an 84-82 thriller in early December. Southern Miss has won five of its six games since then, with its lone loss coming as an 8.5-point underdog against UNLV. The Golden Eagles responded with wins over Troy and Appalachian State to open conference play.
??? The Trey + The Foul
The big 4-point play from @FelipeHaase13 against Troy is the @eatfatboyspizza play of the week ??#LaFamilia | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/6ieEwctl2j
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) January 4, 2023
They have been an excellent offensive team this season, ranked inside the top 100 of 363 Division I teams in effective field goal percentage, turnover rate and offensive rebounding rate. Southern Miss is shooting 54.4% from 2-point range, although it could certainly improve its 32.6% effort from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles have a height advantage in this matchup, and they also have a more experienced roster. They are facing a Louisiana defense that is No. 250 in field goal percentage (52.0). Junior guard Austin Crowley leads Southern Miss with 17.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while senior forward Felipe Haase (15.9) and senior forward DeAndre Pinckney (12.3) are both in double figures as well.