HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Those in attendance at Saturday's Southern Miss basketball game were treated to one of the best individual-shooting games in program history.
Kevin Holland was perfect on all seven of his three-point attempts, finishing 8-for-8 overall, en route to a career and team-high 23 points as the Golden Eagles defeated UTSA, 93-83. It tied a school record for field goal percentage (min. eight makes), when Marcus Crowell went 10-for-10 against UL Lafayette on Jan. 20, 1990.
It marked the most three-point makes (and highest percentage in school history) by a Southern Miss individual since Neil Watson also went 7-for-7 on March 2, 2013 versus East Carolina.
"We are all gonna sit here and look at the way he's shooting, but the little things he does is what makes him a good player," head coach Doc Sadler said. "With Tyree [Griffin], Kevin [Holland] and Cortez [Edwards], their IQ is so high that they cover a lot of our mistakes. Every night, he's down there battling against 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8 guys that are pounding him. It's good that he sacrifices so much to the team."
Southern Miss (9-8, 2-2 C-USA) remained perfect at home, with all seven wins decided by double-digits. Southern Miss has also matched its win total from last year.
UTSA made a three-pointer with 2:46 remaining to cut the deficit to nine points. It was the first single-digit margin since the 13:15 mark of the half. The Golden Eagles made nine of their final 10 free-throw attempts and 14 of 16 over the last 1:36 to seal the game.
Southern Miss led 19-4 after the first eight minutes. UTSA rallied to get within 30-27, but Holland notched a triple and a two-pointer to kickstart a 10-2 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead 40-29 at the break.
"Offensively, UTSA just keeps coming at you," Sadler said. "I thought coming into the game, we would have to keep them off the offensive glass and free-throw line. I thought in those three areas, we did as good a job as you can do. We only gave up two points off offensive boards. Our team, for the second night in a row, had five guys score in double-figures. We shared the basketball, too. We had just six turnovers in a game that featured a lot of possessions, and I'm pleased with that."
Besides Holland's 23 points, Cortez Edwards (20), Dominic Magee (18), Tyree Griffin (16) and D'Angelo Richardson (12) afflicted the majority of the damage. That same group accomplished the feat in Thursday's win over UTEP as well.
UTSA entered the day with 168 three-pointers made, 30 more than the second-place C-USA team. The Roadrunners went 13-for-44 from deep, breaking a Reed Green Coliseum record for deep attempts (41 by Blue Mountain on Nov. 29, 2007).
Southern Miss now hits the road for a Thursday, Saturday swing that begins UAB (7 p.m. CT) and ends at Middle Tennessee (5 p.m.)
NOTABLE
-Kevin Holland finished one three-pointer away from having the highest single-game total since LaShay Page on Nov. 19, 2011 at Colorado State.
-Cortez Edwards (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Dominic Magee (18 points, 10 rebounds) gave Southern Miss its second double-double pair of the season, when both also claimed the feat on Dec. 16 against William Carey.
-Prior to the WCU game, the last-such Southern Miss occurrence came on Dec. 29, 2011 (Darnell Dodson and Jonathan Mills).
-Magee scored all of his points in the second half and set a career-high in minutes (37). It was his second-career double-double.
-Edwards now has six double-doubles for his career.
-D'Angelo Richardson has scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game. He had done it just twice before in his career as a Golden Eagle, posting 14 in his debut versus Tougaloo (2016-17 opener) and 11 on Feb. 2, 2017 versus Marshall.
-The Golden Eagles are 4-0 when Richardson scores in double-figures.
-Southern Miss' 29 free-throw makes on 35 attempts were its most since the season opener (30-for-45 versus SUNO).
-It was the second time this season that Southern Miss used just seven players (Dec. 10 win over Troy).
Kevin Holland was perfect on all seven of his three-point attempts, finishing 8-for-8 overall, en route to a career and team-high 23 points as the Golden Eagles defeated UTSA, 93-83. It tied a school record for field goal percentage (min. eight makes), when Marcus Crowell went 10-for-10 against UL Lafayette on Jan. 20, 1990.
It marked the most three-point makes (and highest percentage in school history) by a Southern Miss individual since Neil Watson also went 7-for-7 on March 2, 2013 versus East Carolina.
"We are all gonna sit here and look at the way he's shooting, but the little things he does is what makes him a good player," head coach Doc Sadler said. "With Tyree [Griffin], Kevin [Holland] and Cortez [Edwards], their IQ is so high that they cover a lot of our mistakes. Every night, he's down there battling against 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8 guys that are pounding him. It's good that he sacrifices so much to the team."
Southern Miss (9-8, 2-2 C-USA) remained perfect at home, with all seven wins decided by double-digits. Southern Miss has also matched its win total from last year.
UTSA made a three-pointer with 2:46 remaining to cut the deficit to nine points. It was the first single-digit margin since the 13:15 mark of the half. The Golden Eagles made nine of their final 10 free-throw attempts and 14 of 16 over the last 1:36 to seal the game.
Southern Miss led 19-4 after the first eight minutes. UTSA rallied to get within 30-27, but Holland notched a triple and a two-pointer to kickstart a 10-2 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead 40-29 at the break.
"Offensively, UTSA just keeps coming at you," Sadler said. "I thought coming into the game, we would have to keep them off the offensive glass and free-throw line. I thought in those three areas, we did as good a job as you can do. We only gave up two points off offensive boards. Our team, for the second night in a row, had five guys score in double-figures. We shared the basketball, too. We had just six turnovers in a game that featured a lot of possessions, and I'm pleased with that."
Besides Holland's 23 points, Cortez Edwards (20), Dominic Magee (18), Tyree Griffin (16) and D'Angelo Richardson (12) afflicted the majority of the damage. That same group accomplished the feat in Thursday's win over UTEP as well.
UTSA entered the day with 168 three-pointers made, 30 more than the second-place C-USA team. The Roadrunners went 13-for-44 from deep, breaking a Reed Green Coliseum record for deep attempts (41 by Blue Mountain on Nov. 29, 2007).
Southern Miss now hits the road for a Thursday, Saturday swing that begins UAB (7 p.m. CT) and ends at Middle Tennessee (5 p.m.)
NOTABLE
-Kevin Holland finished one three-pointer away from having the highest single-game total since LaShay Page on Nov. 19, 2011 at Colorado State.
-Cortez Edwards (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Dominic Magee (18 points, 10 rebounds) gave Southern Miss its second double-double pair of the season, when both also claimed the feat on Dec. 16 against William Carey.
-Prior to the WCU game, the last-such Southern Miss occurrence came on Dec. 29, 2011 (Darnell Dodson and Jonathan Mills).
-Magee scored all of his points in the second half and set a career-high in minutes (37). It was his second-career double-double.
-Edwards now has six double-doubles for his career.
-D'Angelo Richardson has scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game. He had done it just twice before in his career as a Golden Eagle, posting 14 in his debut versus Tougaloo (2016-17 opener) and 11 on Feb. 2, 2017 versus Marshall.
-The Golden Eagles are 4-0 when Richardson scores in double-figures.
-Southern Miss' 29 free-throw makes on 35 attempts were its most since the season opener (30-for-45 versus SUNO).
-It was the second time this season that Southern Miss used just seven players (Dec. 10 win over Troy).
