HATTIESBURG — On a day where the bounces weren’t going its way, Southern Miss still was able to grind out a win and stay undefeated in the friendly confines of Reed Green Coliseum.

The big three of Austin Crowley, Felipe Haase and DeAndre Pinckney combined for 51 points as Southern Miss beat Texas State 67-58 on Saturday for its 12th consecutive home win.

Crowley finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. Haase scored 17 points, and Pinckney 10 to lead Southern Miss (19-4, 8-2 Sun Belt Conference) to its fifth consecutive victory.

The Golden Eagles also kept pace with Louisiana-Lafayette for first place in the Sun Belt. Louisiana defeated Georgia Southern 94-87 on Saturday night. Southern Miss and Louisian play each other on Feb. 9 in Hattiesburg.

Southern Miss only trailed for 20 seconds of the game, at 12-11 early in the first half, but never shook free from Texas State either. The Golden Eagles’ biggest lead was the final nine-point margin.

Southern Miss was just 8-for-22 from the field in the second half and committed 15 turnovers in the game.
Jordan Mason and Nighael Caesar led Texas State (11-12, 4-6) with 12 points apiece. Tyrel Morgan had eight points and 13 rebounds.

Southern U. 80, Alcorn State 68
Alcorn State’s winning streak and its hold on first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference both slipped away Saturday with a loss to Southern University.

Brion Whitley made seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points as Southern (11-10, 7-1 SWAC) beat Alcorn (9-11, 6-2) in a match-up of the teams that entered the day tied for first in the SWAC.

Led by Whitley, Southern went 11-for-28 from 3-point range and 11-for-12 from the free throw line, and shot 54.7 percent from the field overall.

Festus Ndumanya added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Jaguars, while Bryson Etienne scored 12 points.
Alcorn was just 10-for-23 from the free throw line, and shot 29.7 percent from the field as its six-game winning streak came to an end.

Byron Joshua led the Braves with 15 points, while Jeremiah Kendall and Dominic Brewton scored 12 apiece. Kendall also had a team-high eight rebounds.

Grambling 78, Jackson State 66
Tra’Michael Moton scored his only five points of the game during a decisive 11-3 run in the second half, as Grambling (13-7, 6-2 SWAC) defeated Jackson State (6-15, 5-3).

Jackson State had trimmed a 13-point deficit to four with 9:31 remaining before the home Tigers got hot. Moton’s 3-pointer with 5:07 to go put Grambling ahead 69-57, and Jackson State only got as close as nine points the rest of the way.

Cameron Christon led Grambling with 17 points and eight rebounds. Virshon Cotton scored 13 points and Quintin Murrell had 10. Jourdon Smith totaled nine points and 10 rebounds.

Zeke Cook led the Jackson State with 13 points. The visiting Tigers also got 13 points and seven assists from Chase Adams.