Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon’s second year at the helm of the Orange and Brown men’s basketball team begins Monday night.
The Falcons open their season against Southern Mississippi in the Mid-American Conference (MAC)-Sun Belt Challenge at the Reed Green Coliseum at 8 p.m.
Last season, the Falcons opened their season with a 70-41 victory over Chicago State at the Stroh Center.
In the MAC-Sun Belt challenge last year, the Falcons went 1-1 with an 81-75 victory against Arkansas State.
The Falcons are seeking to start their season with a win for the third season in a row. With a win, Simon would become the first coach in program history start 1-0 in both of his first two seasons since Jim Larranaga (1986-87, 1987-88).
Matchup History
The matchup on Monday night will be the first all-time between the Falcons and Southern Eagles.
Southern Miss is the 321st unique opponent for Bowling Green, dating back to 1915-16.
Scouting Bowling Green
Last year, the Falcons turned the entire program around, becoming one of the few teams in the country to go from 20 losses to 20 wins in just one season.
The Falcons ended their season with a record of 20-14, including a win in the MAC tournament over Central Michigan, 66-56 in the first round.
The Orange and Brown’s season ended with two straight losses, a 73-60 loss in the semifinals of the MAC tournament to Kent State and a 77-75 loss against Purdue Fort Wayne in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament.
The Falcons will have 10 new players on the roster this season, with five players returning from last year’s 20-win team.
The five returning players are Trey Thomas, Sam Towns, Greg Spurgin, Jamai Felt (who missed the 2023-24 season due to injury) and DaJion Humphrey.
Bowling Green was ranked fifth in the MAC preseason poll.
Scouting Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles finished their 23-24 season with a perfect .500 record, going 16-16 against their competition. The Golden Eagles ended their season with three straight losses, their last game of the year being a 75-59 loss vs Texas State.
The Golden Eagles finished 9-9 against the Sun Belt and placed 6th in the conference.
Southern Miss averaged 69.9 points per game last season but allowed opponents to 71.0 ppg as well.
Head Coach Jay Ladner is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles and his third year coaching in the Sun Belt.
Ladner suffered a heart attack last season on Feb. 6 and did not coach for the remainder of the season; however, he did return to coach in the Sun Belt tournament.
Falcon Four Players to watch
Trey Thomas (Bowling Green #1)
The 6-0 senior guard from Toronto, Canada, is entering his second year wearing Orange and Brown.
Thomas averaged 11.5 ppg last season and is poised to be the floor general for the Falcons this season.
Youseff Khayat (Bowling Green #23)
Youseff “Yo-Yo” Khayat was one of the 10 players to join the Falcons in the offseason. The 6-9 junior forward previously played for Michigan, appearing in 26 games.
Khayat played for the Lebanese national team in Olympic qualifiers over the summer, tallying 20 points and six rebounds against Spain.
DeAntoni Gordon (Southern Miss #1)
DeAntoni Gordon, a graduate student transfer from Little Rock, Arkansas, averaged 11.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season.
Gordon played three seasons with Little Rock before joining the Golden Eagles.
Andre Curbelo (Southern Miss #11)
Andre Curbelo appeared in 12 games after battling injury throughout the 23-24 season. In those 12 appearances, the redshirt senior averaged 13.6 points per game.
ESPN rated Curbelo as a four-star recruit coming out of high school and ranked him as the 44th-best prospect in the nation.
