Southern Miss, fueled by a 13-4 run down the stretch, opened conference play with a 62-54 win over Louisiana.
Israel Hart scored 17 points, while Curt Lewis and Djahi Binet had 8 rebounds apiece for the Golden Eagles in the Sun Belt opener in Reed Green Coliseum. While the home team walked away victorious, it was the visitor’s head coach who stole the show late in the contest, but not for a good reason.
With just over 2 minutes left in regulation, first-year Ragin’ Cajun frontman Quannas White was ejected after getting heated with officials over what he believed to be a missed call. Prior to his ejection, White was spotted throwing his clipboard in a referee’s direction. The coach ultimately had to be escorted out of the arena by police.
Louisiana Head Coach Quannas White was ejected after getting in an officials face after a no-call.
What followed was an escort out of the arena by the police. pic.twitter.com/EddVW1NQZF
— Dima Mixon (@dima_mixon) December 19, 2025
Scoring summary
Louisiana had the lead until the Golden Eagle forward Tylin Weeks knocked down a free throw to give Southern Miss an 18-17 advantage with 5:04 left in the half. From there, Southern Miss would never trail. The Ragin’ Cajuns were plagued with a near-7-minute scoring drought to end the half, with the Golden Eagles going on a 10-0 run. The halftime score was 24-17 in favor of Southern Miss.
Coming out of the gates in the second half, Louisiana countered, cutting its deficit to 1 point at two different points, but the Golden Eagles did not break, claiming an 8-point victory, courtesy of a resurgence in the final 4 minutes of action.
Coach’s comments
Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner, who has missed some time with the team after the passing of his father, acknowledged that he has prioritized his family in recent days, which he attributed to his absence. As for the game, Ladner was displeased with the offensive production, while impressed with the defensive showing.
“I really thought we were guarding well and defensively was what won the game for us tonight,” Ladner said. “We certainly didn’t have one of our better offensive nights, but because we guarded, we gave ourselves a chance. Sometimes family is a priority, and I have not been here for preparation to get the team ready.”
Numbers never lie
The Southern Miss bench accounted for 33 points, which was its most since scoring 72 against North Florida. It was the fourth time this season recording at least 30 bench points. The Golden Eagles’ 8 turnovers in the matchup are tied for the fewest in a game this season. Louisiana’s 54 points were the fewest by a Southern Miss opponent in the 2025-26 campaign.
Up next
Southern Miss will host Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum. The Sun Belt teams will tip off at 3:30 p.m. CT.