Despite a pair of double-double performances by DeAndre Pinckney and Tyler Stevenson, the Golden Eagles still fell short on Sunday in a 76-62 loss to Louisiana Tech.
With three minutes left in the game and trailing by five, Southern Miss came apart with the Golden Eagles having a 2 minute 57-second scoring drought, which resulted in LA Tech pulling away with a 9-0 run to close out the game and secure the win.
“Of course, there are no moral victories,” Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner said. “Louisiana Tech has an outstanding team. I thought our guys battled and were ready to play and took that thing down to the wire. They made some plays, and we didn’t. I thought we played for 27 minutes the other night toe to toe with them in Ruston and tonight, I thought we played for roughly 37 minutes with them. I was proud of our team against a really good team and well-coached team, and a possible NCAA tournament team.
We lost our detail on defense. I thought our defensive effort up to that point had been really good. We got beat on some actions that were not new and that we covered.
From the start, Southern Miss (5-11, 1-3) looked different compared to its 80-57 loss the Golden Eagles suffered at the hands of the Bulldogs just three days earlier.
The biggest difference was the Golden Eagles coming away with 15 offensive rebounds as a result of big games by Pinckney and Stevenson. In the Golden Eagles’ game in Reed Coliseum in 33 days, Pinckney scored a career-high of 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Stevenson also scored 21 points and came down with 10 rebounds.
“We sat down, and we played defense more today than we did on Thursday,” Pinckney said. “We also gave up 15 offensive rebounds on Thursday, and that was our main focus going into the game. Cut back on them getting offensive rebounds and sitting and playing defense for 40 minutes.
“We knew we didn’t go out there Thursday and give it our best. The last two days we had a practice, and we came in locked in and focused really hard. Yeah, it hurts that we lost, but we know that’s a team predicted to win our league. If we can go toe to toe with them, then we can go toe to toe with anybody. We still have some things we need to work on individually and as a team.”
Although both of Southern Miss’ big men had success, the Golden Eagles were again without forward Isaih Moore, who was “unavailable” for the last two games. Ladner referred to the situation as a “suspension” and stated that Moore is day-to-day
“It’s a day-to-day situation with him,” Ladner said. “I’m proud of his response to this suspension so to speak. I think he is going to come back a better play. I think if Isaih Moore is at the top of his game, can he help Southern Miss win? Absolutely.
“Isaih didn’t walk away. There was a situation there that needed to be addressed. We are in the process of addressing it. I’m pleased with the way he has responded.”
Louisiana Tech (15-3, 6-0) held no more than a seven-point lead, which came at the start of the game as the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead. The Golden Eagles kept the game close as the first half experienced seven ties and six lead changes. Louisiana Tech’s Keaston Willis hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 30-26 lead at the half.
Southern Miss managed to take a 4-point lead after going an 8-0 run to start the second half. But Louisiana Tech began to pull away midway in the second half, with the Bulldogs recouping and building a 10-point lead at 55-45. However, with about eight minutes left in the game, Southern Miss had a chance to steal momentum as LA Tech’s leading scorer Kenneth Lofton was fouled for the fourth time.
“I thought we lost an opportunity there,” Ladner said. “We went by four or six at one point in the second half. We wanted to attack. We have to make a few baskets there. We have to get a couple of stops while he is out and build that 10 or 12-point lead. Then when he comes back in, you can play or attack him.”
Southern Miss went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 57-55, but never retake the lead after Lofton came out, but he returned and helped LA Tech pull away in the final three minutes. Lofton finished the game with 23 points and six rebounds.
“I thought in a lot of our breakdowns we lost our composure and poise a little bit,” said Ladner on what happened in the game’s final three minutes. “That’s part of winning too. You have to learn how to win. When you can do that to a team, especially a really good team like that, and take them to that point in the game. But at that point of the game, you have to be tight and together. We made some defensive mistakes where they got easy baskets, and kind of broke our spirit a little bit.”
Southern Miss will return to action at home against Southeastern Baptist College, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
