The University of Southern Mississippi men’s basketball team will play at Reed Green Coliseum on Thursday night, hosting Sun Belt rival App State. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central Time and will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast on the Southern Miss Radio Network with John Cox calling the action.
Southern Miss enters the game with an 11-11 overall record and a 5-5 mark in conference play. The Golden Eagles, who have lost four straight road games, aim to rebound at home where they hold a 41-10 record since the start of the 2022-23 season. This game marks the beginning of a six-game home stretch to end the regular season.
App State holds a 13-9 overall record and a 6-4 conference record. The Mountaineers recently defeated Louisiana and ULM in back-to-back games. Kasen Jennings leads App State with an average of 14.6 points per game, and Luke Wilson contributes 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Southern Miss’s Tylik Weeks ranks third in the Sun Belt with 17.8 points per game and was named the league’s Player of the Week after a standout performance at the Pensacola Invitational. Weeks scored 37 points against North Florida, the 11th-highest single-game total in program history. The team also features Dylan Brumfield, averaging 12.1 points in conference play.
This matchup will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs. App State won last season’s game with a buzzer-beating dunk. The Golden Eagles won the previous contest at Reed Green Coliseum during the 2022-23 season, part of their league championship run.
Southern Miss is known for its free-throw shooting, having made at least 20 free throws in seven games this season. The team is 7-0 in home openers under head coach Jay Ladner, with six wins by double digits.
App State’s Dustin Kerns has a 24-22 record against Sun Belt West schools over the past seven seasons. The Mountaineers lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense, allowing just 65.5 points per game, and rank second in turnovers per game at 10.0.
