HATTIESBURG, Miss — Chris Pryor scored 27 points and Trey Harris came off the bench to give Lamar University 13 points – all in the second half – but the Cardinals couldn’t overcome 23 turnovers falling to No. 18 (CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll) Southern Mississippi, 95-59, Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.
The Golden Eagles took advantage of LU’s miscues converting them into 35 points on the other end of the court. Conversely, Southern Miss was forced into 10 turnovers which led to just 13 Cardinal points.
The Cardinals shot nearly 50 percent in the second half but finished the game 24-of-62 (.387) from the field, including 6 three-pointers. Big Red also won the battle on the boards, 40-36, including 17 offensive rebounds.
Southern Miss opened the game on an 18-1 run to take a commanding early lead. LU put an end to the run with a baseline jumper from Yuto Yamanouchi with 13:20 remaining. Unfortunately, the Cardinals were unable to string together consecutive stops as the home team pushed its run to 22-2.
The Cardinals were 8-of-28 (.286) from the field in the opening half with just two three-pointers, while their hosts shot the ball at a 51.4 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes.
In addition to the Cardinals slow start offensively, LU also struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half recording 16 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. Southern Miss took advantage of the miscues posting a 25-4 edge in points off turnovers.
LU opened the second half with consecutive threes from Pryor, which appeared to be a spark for the Cardinals but LU was unable to get away from the turnovers with nine more coming in the second half. Big Red was never able to mount a sustained run in the final 20 minutes of action.
The Cardinals will be right back in action against these very same Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tuesday evening. The rematch with USM is slated for a 7 p.m. tip off from the Montagne Center and will be broadcast on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.