Southern Miss concluded its best-ever Sun Belt Tournament run in the semifinals on Sunday, falling to top-seeded Troy 78-70.
In their fourth game in as many days, fatigue caught up to the red-hot Golden Eagles (19-16, 9-9 Sun Belt) versus the Trojans (21-11, 12-6 Sun Belt), who were making their 2026 conference tournament debut. But Jay Ladner’s group did not go down without a fight. That fight was led by Isaac Taveras and his career-high 32 points, though it was not enough to will a winded black and gold to victory.
Scoring summary
Both teams combined to hit the first seven shots of the game as Southern Miss went into the media timeout 4-6 from the floor. Meanwhile, Troy started 4-4 from the field and trailed 11-10. Taveras had the hot hand early for the Golden Eagles as he had eight points inthe first eight minutes.
A three-minute scoring drought then plagued Southern Miss, and Troy promptly capitalized, taking a 25-18 lead near the 10-minute mark. Golden Eagle center Djahi Binet ended the scoring drought with a dunk, and then Chiante’ Tramble forced a steal that led to a Taveras basket that cut the Troy advantage to three with seven minutes to play in the half.
Another scoreless stint by the Golden Eagles followed, largely due to a trio of costly turnovers. The Trojans used that momentum to build a double-digit buffer. Troy took a 41-28 lead into the midway break.
Taveras scored the first points for the Golden Eagles in the second half, looking to give his team a chance to mount a comeback. Nonetheless, Troy kept its foot on the gas and claimed a 53-36 advantage. The Golden Eagles cut Troy’s lead to 13 after forcing the Trojans without a field goal over a two-minute span.
Troy later went nearly eight minutes without a field goal, but managed to hold on to a double-digit advantage. With 8:10 left in the game, the Trojans led 64-50. Troy, during its rough shooting stretch, found supplemental scoring at the foul line, securing nine points off of free shots.
Southern Miss managed to cut its deficit to 10 points after Tylik Weeks hit a 3-pointer, but Troy answered right back with a 5-0 run as the Golden Eagles went scoreless for two minutes after Weeks’ deep shot. The Trojans continued to struggle to make shots down the stretch, allowing Southern Miss to cut the deficit to eight points with under a minute remaining in regulation.
The Golden Eagles continued to chip away, getting as close as four points from their conference counterpart on the scoreboard at the 11-second mark of the half. The valiant effort was stymied by clutch free-throw shooting by the Trojans to close things out.
Coach’s comments
Ladner, while disappointed that his team would not be competing for its first-ever Sun Belt championship, commended the effort his group showed toward the tail-end of the regular season and in the conference tournament.
“I’m really proud of our team during the last month, the way they played hard, just were a little bit too far behind tonight,” Ladner said. “We were just not that precise and not happy that we didn’t accomplish our goal, our guys felt like they belonged. Our guys invested. I am proud of them as they never threw in the towel. One of my favorite teams.”
Numbers never lie
Southern Miss forward Tylik Weeks finished his four-game run, scoring a program record of 106 points at the conference tournament. Weeks had 15 points on Sunday. Djahi Binet ended his collegiate career with a 14-point night and also grabbed seven rebounds. Only four Golden Eagles scored in the matchup.
Jerell Bellamy led the Troy with 22 points, followed by Thomas Dowd, who ended the contest with a double-double consisting of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Next up
Southern Miss will await Selection Sunday on March 15 to learn its postseason fate. Though a spot in the NCAA Tournament is all but off the table, given the lack of a conference title to secure an automatic bid, Ladner believes his group is worthy of a landing spot in the NIT.