USM wins its basketball exhibition opener over Delta State

Jay Ladner called his 2021-22 Southern Miss men’s basketball team, “a work in progress,” and that was evident in its preseason exhibition.

Delta State gave the Golden Eagles all they wanted Thursday night at Reed Green Coliseum, but USM pulled away in the second half and came away with a 68-60 victory.

“We always want to schedule a challenging non-conference schedule,” Ladner said. “We wanted to schedule a team for our exhibition that was going to challenge us, and with their style of play, we felt like Delta State would be a challenge for us, and they were.”

The Statesmen led for a good portion of the first half and went into the locker room with a 33-32 halftime lead.

“Coach told us it was a new 20 minutes, score was 0-0,” said sophomore DeAndre Pinckney. “The first half didn’t go like we wanted it to go. He said the same five that were on the floor at the end of the first half were going to start the second half.

“I was in that group. We told each other, ‘Let’s keep the intensity up the first five minutes,’ and that’s what we did.”

Although the game was much closer than expected, Ladner saw some good things out of his team as he heads into his third season as head coach of the Golden Eagles.

“We have some guys who are starting to separate themselves,” Ladner said. “We’re going to be a work in progress for the next couple of weeks while we figure out our rotation.”

Coming off an 8-17 campaign last season, Ladner is looking for significant improvement from his team, and there were plenty of signs that the Golden Eagles will be a better than last season.

“Our coaching staff provided a good game plan,” said junior Tyler Stevenson. “We worked a lot on their offensive sets, going over the scouting report and their personnel. We knew most of their tendencies.

“In the halftime locker room, coaches talked to us about playing the Southern Miss Way, about how we have to play hard-nosed defense and crash the glass, then good things will happen.”

DSU jumped ahead early 8-2 and still led 10-7 when the Golden Eagles went on a 16-5 run to take a 23-15 lead, thanks to three 3-point shots in quick succession. For the game, Southern Miss was 7 of 23 from beyond the arc.

The chief sharpshooter for the Golden Eagles was Pinckney, who led the team with 20 points, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

“I spent all summer, all offseason working on my shot,” said Pinckney. “Last year, I really didn’t shoot it well. Confidence was a big part of that. But I put in the time and the work, along with my teammates, and everything just worked out for me.”

The Statesmen, though, rallied and outscored USM 18-7 over the rest of the first half.

“The group that started the game, I just didn’t think they were active enough,” Ladner said. “I thought we were a little bit cool. That’s when we said we were just going to try a whole new five.”

Sophomore Mo Arnold beat the clock with a layup at the buzzer to close a three-point margin to one at the break, and after several dry possessions to start the second half, Southern Miss took the lead for good when Pinckney got free ion the lane for a dunk.

The Golden Eagles stretched their lead as the second half progressed, and led by as many as 10 points, but could never put away the Statesmen.

The big key, and the biggest area of improvement over last season was the Golden Eagles’ depth. Southern Miss used 10 players and got a contribution from all of them.

“We have not had, in my time here, 10 guys that can play,” Ladner said. “The group that came in second, in the first half, and to start the second half, I thought they played with a great deal of spirit.

“They played with a great deal of intensity, especially on the defensive end, and that set the tone for us.”

That depth allowed Ladner to use two sets of five players at various times. USM got 39 of its 68 points off the bench, while Delta State’s back-ups did not have a point.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Ladner said of the discrepancy in bench scoring. “That’s one area I think we have really improved. We’re able now to sub in a whole new five if needed.”

Southern Miss returns four of its top five scorers from last season, led by Stevenson’s 14.1 points a game, but it was a pair of newcomers who turned some heads.

Isaih Moore, a sophomore from Columbia, South Carolina by way of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, and true freshman Rashad Bolden also finished with 11 points. Stevenson added 10 points and 6 rebounds.

“Isaih struggled early, but he really came on strong in the second half,” Ladner said. “Rashad is a little undersized (6-foot), but he’s got a high basketball IQ, and he didn’t look the least bit fazed by the big stage.”

Stevenson originally entered the transfer portal after the end of last season but changed his mind and chose to return.

“I just gave it a lot of thought, and I decided I wanted to stay with my brothers and win a Conference USA championship,” Stevenson said. “I love this team.”

Airen Brooks led Delta State with 19 points. DSU was 4-10 last season but returns two of their top three scorers from last season, including sophomore Maalik Cartwright, who averaged 18.2 points per game.

But Cartwright was held to just 2 points in the second half, after scoring 10 in the first half. Kelen Dietrich added 13 points for the Statesmen.

“I though we defended well, for the most part,” Ladner said. “Delta State run a sort of Princeton-style offense, with a lot of back-cuts and I thought we took that away from them in the second half.

“I really think we turned it around in the second half by getting on the offensive glass much better.”

Indeed, the Golden Eagles finished with 14 offensive rebounds, nine in the second half. That helped USM get 70 shots for the game. That helped overcome five missed layups, four in the first half.

“I think there were times last season where we didn’t get 70 shots in two games,” Ladner said. “We just have to do a better of finishing at the rim.”

The Golden Eagles will open their regular-season schedule on Tuesday, hosting William Carey in a crosstown clash, then they will host Louisiana-Lafayette next Friday.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 12:00 AM.