If there was any worry as to how Southern Miss might respond after dropping its first game of the season to Northwestern State a little over a week ago - those qualms were quickly crushed.
After an eight-day hiatus, USM pulled together a dominant first half that led to a 95-59 rout over Lamar. By the end of the game, the Golden Eagles had four players in double digits and recorded 21 steals, which was the seventh most in a game in program history. In addition, Southern Miss' dunk corner was riddled with hanging 'Ds' to signify the amount of slam dunks Southern Miss inflicted on their opponent.
"I was proud of the fact that we bounced back after the loss at Northwestern," Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner said. "If you told me we would have gotten up (to an) 18-1 lead, I would have had a hard time believing it. I did think we were ready. I thought we prepared well the last couple of days. I like their focus at practice, but they have been like that all year.
"I thought we would be ready to play, but I was very surprised with the score."
DOMINANT FIRST HALF
On both sides of the ball, the Golden Eagles clicked as Southern Miss (9-1) jumped out to a 26-3 lead with seven and a half minutes into the game. Despite the early lead, Southern Miss' players and Ladner remained somewhat critical of their own performance.
"I think we got a little comfortable with our lead," said guard Donovan Ivory, who scored 16 points. "We have to do a better job of keeping the same intensity throughout the whole game. It's a Division I team, so they are capable of making shots at any time. We have to keep the same defensive intensity from the first 10 minutes to the last 10 minutes. That's something we are going to work on."
As they have all season, the Golden Eagles dominated the turnover battle, with USM Southern Miss scoring 35 points off Lamar's 25 turnovers. USM also knocked down a season-high of 12 three-pointers.
The Golden Eagles kept their foot on the gas in the second half; after holding a 57-32 lead, Southern Miss went on a 17-0 run, which led to USM building as much as a 46-point lead to cruise to victory.
VALUABLE MINUTES
Notably, the Golden Eagles defeated Lamar a year ago by just seven points. It should be noted that entering the game, Lamar (4-6) has yet to earn a win against a Division I program. According to the KenPom ratings, the Cardinals have one of the youngest teams in the country and one of the shortest starting lineups.
"Coach, he references it sometimes, but he doesn't even talk about last year," said Austin Crowley, who led USM with 12 points and seven assists. "We think of last year as something we have moved on from it. They had a bad season. We look forward and take it one step at a time.
"I think we got a little complacent, and that comes with a winning streak. Winning eight straight, you become big-headed of sorts, but we just had to get back to our original selves of playing good defense, running and spacing the floor out."
Yet what makes Southern Miss' 36-point win and 9-1 start even more impressive is the fact that the Golden Eagles are still without starters Denijay Harris and Neftali Alvarez.
"It's a great feeling to know that we are 9-1, and we have been without Nefta for a while and Denijay for a couple of weeks," Ivory said. "To know that we have guys on the team that is going to keep up the same intensity and we are still winning games and playing hard, and so I think its definitely motivating and exciting to know that we can be better than where we are at now."
According to Ladner, missing his two starters has given USM a chance to develop the bench and create further depth.
"These other guys now have gotten a lot of playing time," Ladner said. "As we move into league play, that's going to serve us well because now, we have depth and guys that have played a lot of minutes against some really good teams in the heat of the moment."
Also reaching double digits for Southern Miss were Felipe Haase, who scored 12 points and Victor Hart, who scored 11 points off the bench.
Southern Miss will play Lamar again on the road Tuesday night, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
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