Southern Miss suffers loss to New Mexico State

Southern Miss (6-1) was humbled by a 60-68 loss to the New Mexico State Aggies (4-4) on Saturday, halting Donnie Tyndall’s previously undefeated campaign as first-year head basketball coach of the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss defeated the Aggies twice last season, taking an 80-72 decision in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout and winning a 74-66 bout at Reed Green Coliseum nine days later. By contrast, the Golden Eagles never saw a lead in this year’s rematch and were unable to cut the deficit to less than eight points in the second half.

The Golden Eagles were led by senior forward Jonathan Mills, as he poured in 12 points to go along with his team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Daniel Mulling led the way for the Aggies, recording team-highs in points (21) and rebounds (11). Center Sim Bhullar also chipped in by scoring 17 points and hauling in seven boards.

The Golden Eagles were overmatched down low all game long, as NMSU out scored Southern Miss in the paint 38-22. The Aggies also out rebounded the Golden Eagles 32-22. Southern Miss connected on 88.2 percent of its free throws but could not overcome its dismal 35.1 field goal percentage. In contrast, the Aggies sunk a prolific 56.4 percent of their baskets.

The Golden Eagles were also hindered by the 0-11 shooting performance of junior guard Jerrold Brooks. He missed all eight of his three-point attempts and failed to record a single free throw attempt. Michael Craig and Neil Watson provided 12 and 11 points for the Golden Eagles, respectively, but they only went 6-18 from the field combined.

Southern Miss looks to rebound from its poor shooting performance tonight when it plays the second bout of a three-game road stint against Arizona at 8:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles will conclude their road trip when they take on Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. on Saturday before returning home to defend their current 17-game home winning streak against the Grambling State Tigers on Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles’ home winning streak is good for fifth best in the nation.