Southern Miss basketball plays 2 final home games this week
The Southern Miss men's basketball team starts its final two-game homestand of the season when it hosts Rice at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Hattiesburg.
Saturday's 7 p.m. home game against North Texas will serve as Senior Night for the Golden Eagles with guard Kourtlin Jackson and forward Michael O'Donnell playing their final game at Reed Green Coliseum.
Jackson and O'Donnell have both provided highlights in what has been another difficult season thanks to a self-imposed postseason ban due to the NCAA's investigation of Donnie Tyndall's conduct as USM head coach from 2012-14.
The Golden Eagles (7-18, 4-10) are currently on a six-game losing streak, matching their run of six straight defeats to start the 2015-16 season.
The 6-foot-4 Jackson, a transfer from Iowa State, is USM's leading scorer at 12.3 points a game. He is also averaging 4.5 rebounds and leads the team in steals with 26.
O'Donnell, a 6-foot-6 walk-on, has scored in double digits three times during conference play despite missing six games in January due to injury.
O'Donnell leads USM in efficiency on 3-pointers, hitting 43.8 percent of his attempts. He is averaging 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19.1 minutes a game. Southern Miss continues to suffer with inconsistency on offense. The Golden Eagles shot just 23.3 percent from the field in the second half and 32.7 percent for the game in Saturday's 74-53 loss at Texas-San Antonio.
Rice is 11-16 overall and 6-8 in conference play with three consecutive wins entering Thursday's game with the Golden Eagles.
Rice beat USM, 72-65, on Feb. 6 in Houston.
Rice is led by one of the league's top freshmen, guard Marcus Evans, who is averaging 20.5 points and 4.0 rebounds a game this season. Six-foot-5 sophomore guard Egor Koulechov is pitching in 17.0 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
North Texas is 11-16 and 6-8 with four wins in its last six games, including a 70-54 win over USM.
The Mean Green are led by 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Jeremy Combs, who is averaging 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds a game.
This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Southern Miss basketball plays 2 final home games this week ."