Jay Ladner didn’t need to yell at halftime and there was no sense of panic. Nor did Southern Miss change anything schematically despite holding a single-digit lead against William Carey.
The only difference was cultivating patience and energy into Southern Miss’ second-half performance that led the Golden Eagles to a 64-42 win against crosstown foe William Carey to open the season.
“We didn’t change anything,” Ladner said. “It was a matter of moving the basketball more and being more patient. We just shot it better. Once we did that, we were playing better.”
“I never thought that we got into a rhythm. In the middle 15 minutes, I thought we played much better. The defense was outstanding most of the night, with a breakdown here and there. Overall, I thought it was a good effort. I thought it was hangover from the Mississippi State game.”
After getting out to an 8-0 lead, Southern Miss’ offense struggled, which William Carey capitalized on by pulling ahead with a 10-0 run.
However, with the score tied at 17 with less than five minutes left in the first half, the Golden Eagles put together a 10-0 run to take a 28-19 lead at the half. Despite jumping out in front, Southern Miss was just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc and was shot just 33% from the floor.
“We did not shoot the basketball particularly well,” Ladner said. “I thought we were taking good shots. I don’t think that we were in a good offensive rhythm in the first 15 minutes of the first half.
Another issue for Southern Miss was the lack of help from its bench, which didn’t score its first of five points until 10 minutes left in the game.
Critical second-half performances from starters Victor Hart, Donovan Ivory and Austin Crowley’s rebounding helped break the game open. Ivory and Hart scored 20 of their combined 25 points in the half. Crowley put together a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, seven of which came in the second half. This culminated in the Golden Eagles coming out of the half using a 18-1 run to break away.
“These guys have been around the block before,” Ladner said. “They are smart and talented. I have a lot of confidence in those guys.
“Austin is drawing a lot of attention from teams defensively. They were on top of him a lot tonight. I think it’s going to take us a lot of time to develop our rhythm and chemistry on the offensive end.”
Notably, the 46 points allowed is the lowest mark in Ladner’s tenure at USM.
Another issue for Southern Miss was the fact that the Golden Eagles are still missing Andre Curbelo, as the program has still yet to learn of the news of the guard’s NCAA transfer waiver. According to Ladner, the program hopes to learn of Curbelo’s fate in the next 48 hours after USM’s compliance office reached out to the NCAA’s casework.
“Our compliance (office) has been in touch with the caseworker at the NCAA,” Ladner said. “I think we will know something within 24 or 48 hours. I will say the NCAA is not consistent at times, as we all know. They are not predictable, but he certainly checks what they have as the guidelines.
“He is a different level. I think this is a player that has the potential to be drafted. After his first year at Illinois, he was projected to be a low-round pick.”
William Carey now drops to 2-2 on the season. The Crusaders were led by a pair of former area athletes. Oak Grove alum Dylan Brumfield led William Carey with nine points and six rebounds, while FCAHS alum Ashton Campbell also scored six points and hauled in five rebounds.
“I told Coach Knight that I thought his team played really hard,” Ladner said. “As they always do. He has a much more talented team this year. Guys that were starting for him last year didn’t play much tonight. They are going to have a good year.”
William Carey will return home to face Louisiana Christian on Thursday, while Southern Miss will travel to play Akron on Friday. Tipoff for both games is set for 6 p.m.
