Why Southern Miss Could Be Hard Out Come Sun Belt Tournament Time

The Golden Eagles' record may not reflect it, but their gritty style of play could bode well for them in the Sun Belt Conference tournament if officiating permits.

Djahi Binet throws down a dunk at Reed Green Coliseum. / Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

HATTIESBURG, Miss – To put it mildly, it has been a roller coaster ride of a season for the Southern Miss men's basketball team, which currently sits at 15-15 overall and 8-9 in the Sun Belt after losing a heartbreaker at Arkansas State (19-11, 10-7) on Tuesday night. Despite having a five-point lead with three minutes left in the game, the Golden Eagles weren't able to overcome the free-throw disparity in Jonesboro (46-to-21 in favor of the Red Wolves), which led to several key players fouling out, including star guard/forward Tylik Weeks. Weeks led the team with

Battling through building chemistry with a mostly-new roster, as well as a significant midseason injury to star junior guard Isaac Taveras, the Golden Eagles have found a way to remain competitive despite not being consistent on a night-to-night basis when it comes to finishing games. Taveras has been back for nearly two weeks now, though, and Southern Miss has shown that it can hang with anybody on the hardwood.

Despite Inconsistent Finishing, Golden Eagles Hanging With Everyone

Southern Miss junior guard Isaac Taveras was out for a good portion of the regular season with a hand injury. / Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Here's what the last six games have looked like for the Golden Eagles: 81-77 loss at Marshall, 66-65 win vs. Kent State, 84-78 loss vs. South Alabama, 69-65 win vs. Troy, 86-81 win vs. Old Dominion (which was the fourth largest comeback in program history), and an 89-84 loss at Arkansas State. That 3-3 stretch is a microcosm of this Southern Miss season, meaning that the team was close in every game, but just could only finish half of them with a win.

No matter what seed Southern Miss ends up with in the Sun Belt tournament, though, it's hard to imagine any of their potential opponents wanting to willingly face hard-nosed players like Weeks, Taveras, and senior big man Djahi Binet with their backs against the wall. Those three are more than capable of combining for 60-plus points on any given night, with Weeks and Taveras' one-on-one scoring abilities and Binet's rebounding and vertical spacing. Weeks, by himself, is capable of exploding for a historic 30 points in one half of basketball, as he showed us at Reed Green last week in a win over Troy.

So, if the Golden Eagles can get even just a modest amount of scoring support from their supporting cast, and if Sun Belt officials let them play with physicality instead of blowing the whistle every time there's minimal contact, anything can happen come tournament time.

Golden Eagles Need to Harness Elite Physicality for Postseason

Southern Miss forward Tylik Weeks takes the ball down the floor at Reed Green Coliseum. / @SouthernMissMMB / X

For better or worse, these Golden Eagles are wrecking balls when they hit the hardwood. Win or lose, one thing is for certain: no other team is going to "out-physical" Southern Miss. They might out-shoot the Golden Eagles from beyond the arc or from the charity stripe at times, but they won't play with the same level of physicality.

We believe that is something Southern Miss can harness and use to its advantage as tournament play gets underway in Pensacola, Fla., next week. We'll see if head coach Jay Ladner and his staff can make some last-second tweaks to ignite a late run. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more USM basketball coverage throughout the remainder of the regular season and the upcoming postseason.