PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite racing ahead to a 14-10 lead by the under-12 media timeout and keeping eighth-seeded Southern Miss to just four made field goals in the first eight minutes, a 34-18 run to close the half helped the Golden Eagles storm ahead to a 16-point halftime advantage, which helped them claim an 86-73 win over the fourth-seeded App State men's basketball team on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (19-13, 11-7 SBC) scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the first half, but only tallied 14 points over the final 12 minutes, which helped Southern Miss jump out to a double-digit lead. Despite App State outscoring Southern Miss by three points in the second half, Southern Miss's ability to get open looks both in the paint and from deep allowed it to take control of the game early.
App State's third-team All-Sun Belt guard
Alonzo Dodd, who scored 15 points in the first 18 minutes of the game, went down with an injury at the 2:29 mark of the first half after sinking a floater in the lane. When Dodd went out, Southern Miss took advantage and outscored the Mountaineers 9-4 to extend its lead out to 16 points by the halftime buzzer.
How it Happened
The Mountaineers started the game on a 4-0 run courtesy of three points from Dodd and a free throw by
Luke Wilson before Southern Miss got its first points. Southern Miss pulled back within one after Tylik Weeks, who entered the game with back-to-back 30-point games, got into the lane for an and-one chance, but
Jalen Tot was fouled on a three-pointer and buried all three freebies to push App State back ahead by four.
Izzy Hart found his way into the lane to cut App State's lead down to two points, but Dodd stormed his way into the lane for a score, and App State carried a 14-10 lead into the under-12 media timeout. Southern Miss eventually took their first lead of the game at the 9:33 mark of the first half, and used an 11-3 run to soar ahead by five with just over eight minutes to play. That lead grew to eight after Hart sank another 3-pointer with 5:53 to play until halftime.
Southern Miss' lead jumped into double-digits thanks to seven straight points from Hart. Dodd's layup cut into the Golden Eagles' lead, but the Golden Eagles maintained their distance from App State by scoring nine of the final 13 points to take a 16-point lead into the halftime locker room.
A four-point play from Tot opened the final half and cut App State's deficit down to 12 after just a possession, but Southern Miss continued its strong offensive game plan and crossed the 50-point threshold with 17:29 to play in the game. After
Kasen Jennings' basket with just over 17 minutes fell through, the Golden Eagles totaled four straight points to jump back ahead by 16 by the under-16 media break.
Seeing their deficit grow back to 16, App State went on a run of its own and cut Southern Miss' lead down to just 10 after
Eren Banks connected on a 3-pointer in transition. The momentum was short-lived, however, as Weeks stole back the energy with an and-one and a basket to push the Golden Eagles back ahead by 15 with 12:16 to play.
The Golden Eagles maintained their distance over the next several minutes before seeing their lead grow back to 16 points with 7:38 to play. Banks cut the deficit down to 14 by the under-eight timeout, but a pair of Dylan Brumfield free throws pushed the Golden Eagles back ahead by 15 with 6:35 to play in the game.
Banks continued his strong second-half showing with another 3-pointer to trim into the Golden Eagles' lead, but Southern Miss didn't let App State get any closer than 10 points for the rest of the game. The Golden Eagles eventually saw their lead grow to as much as 18 with 2:36 to go in the game, and when the final horn sounded, they had claimed a win 13-point win to advance to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinal.
Top Performers
Banks led App State's scoring attack against Southern Miss with 18 points, his season best, with 16 of them coming in the second half. Banks was efficient in his shooting, as he poured in seven of his 13 shots, while shooting 3-7 from deep. Jennings finished the game with 15 points, his 25th game scoring in double figures this season, and Dodd totaled 15 before going down with an injury. Wilson finished the game with 10 points and 14 rebounds, which marked his 12th double-double of the season.
