MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama men's basketball team heads to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. CT before returning to the Mitchell Center for the regular season finale against Louisiana on Friday, Feb.28 at 7 p.m. CT. 

Game Information

South Alabama (19-10, 11-5) at Southern Miss (10-19, 5-11) 

Tip-off: Wednesday, Feb.26 | 7:30 p.m. CT

Site: Hattiesburg, Miss.  | Reed Green Coliseum

ESPN+  Live Stats

South Alabama (19-10, 11-5)  vs. Louisiana (11-18, 8-8) 

Tip-off: Friday, Feb. 28 | 7 p.m. CT 

Site: Mobile, Ala. | Mitchell Center

ESPN +   Live Stats

Last Time Out

Barry Dunning Jr. tied the all-time single-game program record for points and three-pointers,  but it was not enough as the South Alabama men's basketball team fell in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Texas State 93-92 Saturday night in San Marcos. The Jags dropped to 19-10 on the season and 11-5 in conference play, while Texas State moved to 15-14 on the year and 8-8 in Sun Belt play. 

Trailing by two with 20 seconds to play in overtime, Dunning bolted to the basket, drawing a foul and sinking a layup to send him to the free throw line. He gave the Jags a one-point lead, 92-91, after drilling the free throw with five seconds remaining. On the following possession, Texas State went the length of the court and knocked down the game-winning layup with under a second remaining to hand the Jags the loss. 

Notes

• Barry Dunning Jr. was named Sun Belt Player of the Week on Monday, Feb.25, after averaging 30.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 60.0 percent (18-30) shooting from the field, 76.7 percent from three-point range (10-13), and 82.2 percent (14-17) from the free throw line. After leading the way for the Jags with 14 points and eight rebounds at Arkansas State, Dunning dropped 46 points with nine made three-pointers and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
• South Alabama now sits in a three-way tie for second in the Sun Belt with Arkansas State and Troy, with two regular-season games remaining. The Jaguars would win any three-way tie with those two teams and also have the head-to-head tiebreaker on first-place James Madison.
• South is one game off of its' first 20-win season in three years. The Jags last surpassed the 20-win mark in 2021-22 when Coach Riley led the Jags to a 21-12 record in his fourth overall season with the program. In total, South Alabama has claimed 1620 wins seasons in program history.
• Dunning's 46 points tie a 51-year-old South Alabama program record, set by Eugene Oliver vs. Southern Miss in 1974. His point total was one off the Sun Belt mark of 47by Appalachian State's Ronshad Shabazz vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 2019 and is tied for the second-most by an NCAA Division I men's player this season (Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 49 vs. Texas-Rio Grand Valley on Nov. 6; UMass' Rahsool Diggins also had 46 vs. Fordham on Jan. 15).
• The Jaguars have set a new program record in overtime contests with six this season. South Alabama is 4-2 in overtime games this year with four of those games coming in February. In those four extra quarters, the Jaguars have outscored their opponents 38 to 23 and have limited their opponents to 26.6 percent (8-for-30) shooting from the field. On the flip side, the Jags have come up clutch from the charity stripe in those games, shooting 70.0 percent (21-for-30) from the line in extra time.
• South Alabama has made a living this season by applying intense zone pressure schemes to opposing offenses. They rank fifth in the country in field goal percentage defense (38.2), 20th in scoring defense (64.4), and 17th in steals per game (9.3).

Series History

• Southern Miss leads the series 27-25, but the Jaguars have owned this rivalry as of late, winning eight of the last nine matchups. The Jags have struggled on the road in series historically, posting a 10-15 overall record in Hattiesburg.
• Louisiana has a narrow advantage in the series, owning a 33-32 record over South Alabama. The Ragin Cajuns have won five of the last six matchups in the rivalry. 

About Southern Miss

• Denijay Harris has 16 double-doubles on the season, which leads the SBC, and is #6 in the NCAA
• Southern Miss is 9-4 at home this season and is 35-7 in Hattiesburg since the start of the 2022-23 season.
• The Golden Eagles last fell to Louisiana 62-60 in their most recent matchup.  Denijay Harris produced a 12-point, 17-rebound performance to record his 16th double-double of the season. Cobie Montgomery made one three-pointer and has now made at least one three-pointer in 24 of the last 25 games. Neftali Alvarez scored 14 points as he went 4-for-8 from the field. Alvarez missed a contested layup at the buzzer in an attempt to force overtime.

About Louisiana

• Louisiana has won the last three games in a row, picking up wins over Marshall, Troy, and Southern Miss. 
• Mostapha El Moutaouakkil continues to produce in SBC play. The junior is scoring (16.9) and rebounding (6.5) in SBC games. He is 36th in the country in free throw makes (132) and 43rd in attempts (172). 
• Louisiana is second in the SBC in free throw shooting in conference play at .777. The team is third in the league at .737 for the entire season.
• With a win, the Ragin' Cajuns will clinch at least a .500 record in Sun Belt Conference play and avoid playing on Tuesday in the opening round of the SBC Tournament.

FOLLOW THE JAGS

For complete coverage of South Alabama men's basketball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaMBB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaJaguars (Facebook), @southalabamambb (Instagram), or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at usajaguars.com