The BGSU men’s basketball team opened the 2024-25 season and the second year under head coach Todd Simon by falling to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg in the first leg of the Mid-American Conference (MAC)-Sun Belt challenge, 77-68.
The loss marks the first season-opening defeat for the Orange and Brown since they fell to Western Carolina to begin the 2021-22 campaign.
First Half
Both teams started the contest slow, missing a three-pointer on their first possessions of the new season.
While BGSU senior guard Derrick Butler and senior forward Marcus Johnson made an early three-pointer and two layups, respectively, Southern Miss jumped out to an early 8-7 lead.
The Golden Eagles would extend their lead to seven points with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, 17-10.
However, Johnson caught fire from deep, draining two three-pointers in the next minute to cut USM’s lead to 19-16.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 run in just over a minute to take a 29-21 lead with seven minutes remaining.
BG Senior guard Trey Thomas made a triple with four 4:06 remaining in the first half to cut USM’s lead to just four points.
However, the Falcons did not make another shot the rest of the half, while the Golden Eagles closed out the first 20 minutes on a 6-0 run, taking a 10-point lead into halftime, 43-33.
While BGSU shot 31.3% (5-16) from beyond the arc compared to Southern Miss’ 20% (3-15) in the first half, the Golden Eagles outshot the Orange and Brown from the field, 52.8% (19-36) to 39.4% (13-33).
Second Half
A few minutes into the second half, Thomas made a three-pointer before Butler made a fast-break layup, cutting USM’s lead to six points, 48-42.
Thomas stayed red hot from deep, draining his fourth three-pointer with 15 minutes remaining to cut the deficit to just two, 52-50.
However, Southern Miss scored the next five points, extending their lead back to seven, 57-50.
The Golden Eagles continued to go on hot streaks, scoring six unanswered to push their lead back to 11, 63-52.
After going scoreless for over four minutes, Butler hit his third three-pointer of the contest, cutting Southern Miss’ lead to 67-59.
As the game was winding down, Thomas nailed another triple, bringing USM’s lead to just five points, 71-66.
While the Falcons had a chance to take advantage of momentum late, Butler turned the ball over and missed multiple shots, squandering possession back to Southern Miss with 36.7 seconds remaining.
The Golden Eagles did not allow opportunities down the stretch, outscoring Bowling Green 6-2, securing the nine-point victory.
Recap of the Game
While the Falcons led for just 36 seconds, they showed improvement on three-point shooting, a major weakness last year. They shot 35.7% (10-28) from beyond the arc compared to Southern Miss’ 22.7% (5-22) mark.
However, the Golden Eagles shot 49.2% (30-61) from the field compared to BG’s 40.9% (27-66). USM also went 12-14 from the free throw line, while BGSU shot just 4-8 from the charity stripe.
The Golden Eagles dominated in the paint, outscoring the Falcons 40 to 32 near the rim and tallying 10 blocks. BG also committed 13 personal fouls, while Southern Miss was whistled for just eight.
Thomas and Butler led the Falcons with 17 points. Thomas shot 6-11 from the field and 5-7 from deep, while Butler went 7-18 overall and 3-10 from beyond the arc.
Johnson and junior guard Javontae Campbell rounded out the double-digit scoring for BG with 14 each. Campbell shot 5-10 from the field and made all four of BGSU’s free throws, while Johnson shot 6-13 from the field and 2-5 on three-pointers. Campbell also recorded a team-high four steals.
Junior forward Youssef Khayat and sophomore guard Braelon Green were the only other scorers for Bowling Green, finishing with four and two points, respectively.
Senior forward Sam Towns grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds but fouled out of the game.
Meanwhile, redshirt freshman forward Jamai Felt played his first collegiate minutes in his third season at Bowling Green, playing on the hardwood for two minutes early in the contest.
Junior guard Christian Watson, redshirt senior guard Andre Curbelo, seventh-year guard Neftali Alvarez, graduate student guard DeAntoni Gordon and graduate student forward Denijay Harris all scored double-digit points for the Golden Eagles, finishing with 17, 16, 14, 13 and 11, respectively. Gordon nearly recorded a double-double, tallying a team-high nine rebounds.
Next Up
Next, the Orange and Brown will return to Bowling Green to battle Davidson in their home opener at the Stroh Center on Friday, Nov. 8, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
