HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss had its best shooting night of the season and never trailed Saturday, as it blew out James Madison 83-70 at Reed Green Coliseum.

DeAndre Pinckney scored a career-high 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting for the Golden Eagles (17-4, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference). Austin Crowley was 5-for-6 from the field and finished with 14 points, while Denijay Harris added 10 points.

Southern Miss shot a season-best 60.4 percent for the game. It never led by less than 10 points after Harris made a layup with 13:25 to go to make it 58-47.

Southern Miss’ 23 assists were its most in a game this season. It also had 10 steals, the ninth time it has finished in double figures. Mo Arnold led the Golden Eagles with six assists, and three players had two steals each.

Terrence Edwards led James Madison (13-8, 4-4 SBC) with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Southern Miss remained undefeated at home this season, improving to 10-0. Its next two games are also at Reed Green Coliseum, Tuesday vs. Arkansas State and next Saturday against Texas State.

Alcorn State 57, Florida A&M 47
Dominic Brewton led a balanced scoring effort with 13 points as Alcorn State (8-10, 5-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) stayed red hot by beating Florida A&M (3-14, 1-5).

Brewton was Alcorn’s only player to finish in double figures, but six had at least six points and nine players scored in all.

The Braves built a nine-point lead at halftime, and led by as many as 18. Florida A&M never got closer than seven in the second half.

Alcorn State won its fifth consecutive game. It will play at home again on Monday, at 7:30 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman.

Jackson State 70, Bethune-Cookman 66
Ken Evans Jr. scored a game-high 18 points, Trace Young finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Jackson State (5-14, 4-2) knocked off Bethune-Cookman (6-13, 2-4) to snap a two-game losing streak.

Young went 10-for-10 from the free throw line, and the Tigers were 16-for-18 as a team. After Bethune-Cookman cut it to 68-66 on a 3-pointer by Dhashon Dyson with seven seconds left in the game, Young made two free throws with three seconds to go to seal it.

Bethune-Cookman was 5-for-25 from 3-point range. Zion Harmon led the Wildcats with 20 points, and Marcus Garrett had 15 points and sevenr ebounds.

Jackson State hosts Florida A&M Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Valdosta State 93, Delta State 44
Delta State went 4-for-35 from 3-point range and shot a miserable 25.8 percent (16-for-62) from the field overall, and was blown out by Valdosta State on Saturday.

Caden Boser and Maurice Gordon scored 15 points apiece for Valdosta State (14-8, 10-6 Gulf South Conference). The Blazers opened the game with a 14-0 run and never trailed. They went 14-for-35 from 3-point range.

Demond Franklin was the leading scorer for Delta State (6-13, 5-11), with just eight points. Derek Moore had seven points and 12 rebounds.

Delta State hosts Montevallo on Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

West Florida 69, Mississippi College 62
West Florida used a 16-4 run early in the second half to blow the game open, and went on to beat Mississippi College (10-9, 4-9 GSC).

Daniel Sofield made four 3-pointers and led West Florida (10-10, 6-10) with a game-high 24 points. Jared DeHart was 5-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 18 points.

Miles Miller just missed a triple-double for Mississippi College, finishing with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Galen Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Justin Reid scored 12 points.

The Choctaws play again Jan. 26, at home at 7:30 p.m. vs. Auburn Montgomery.

Covenant College 65, Belhaven 58
Jonathan Gernatt had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Covenant College (6-12, 2-3 Collegiate Conference of the South) held off a late comeback bid by Belhaven (9-7, 5-2) on Saturday.

Belhaven cut a 14-point second-half deficit to five, at 63-58 on a layup by Jordan Judah with 16 seconds remaining, but couldn’t get any closer.

Judah finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Marshall led Belhaven with 16 points. The Blazers only shot three free throws in the game, making one. A combined total of only 21 fouls were called on both teams.

Belhaven will travel across the street in Jackson on Tuesday to play Millsaps in a non-conference game.