Saturday, February 26
Houston, TX
6:00 PM
Southern Miss
72
at
77
Rice
Napper Explodes for Career Night in Overtime Loss at Rice
2/26/2022 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON, Texas -- Sophomore Walyn Napper poured in a career-high 29 points on Saturday night against Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Owls' (15-13, 7-9 C-USA) comeback before falling in overtime, 77-72.
"I'll take responsibility for how we executed there at the end of the game with the lead - a little lead - but we had the lead nonetheless," said head coach Jay Ladner. "We had some success in the post all night and I thought we did a really good job of running our sets."
The Golden Eagles (6-23, 1-15 C-USA) utilized a 13-3 run and an 11-0 run in the first half to pull ahead by four heading into the break. The Southern Miss advantage was at eight just before Rice nailed a pair of jumpers with less than a minute to play in the half. Napper contributed with 15 points in the first half, and helped Southern Miss hold the lead for a majority of the opening frame.
Freshman Rashad Bolden knocked down a jumper to open the scoring in the second half and combined with Napper to score the first 10 points. Southern Miss pushed ahead by eight before Travis Evee drained back-to-back-to-back triples to give Rice a two-point lead with 10:15 play. Right on cue, Napper drained a three-pointer from way beyond the arc as the shot clock expired, then Isaih Moore threw down a dunk to swing the momentum and lead back Southern Miss' side.
"Walyn has been playing really well over the last couple of games," Ladner said. "He's beginning to hit his stride and I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight. Rashad and Isaih had solid games, too."
Rice would go on to take the lead back via a Carl Pierre free throw and would not relinquish it until Moore scored the most important basket of the night for Southern Miss. The forward curled off a screen and received a lob from Napper to tie the game at 64-all with less than 10 seconds to play. The slam gave Moore 17 points on the night and notched Napper his fourth assist. Rice's three-point heave at the buzzer bounced off the rim to send the game to overtime.
Denijay Harris cut hard to the hoop to get Southern Miss on the board after Rice opened overtime with an Evee triple, but Max Fiedler and Chris Mullins connected on a pair of big shots to make it a five-point game with 1:29 play. Tyler Morman would make it a two-point game as he slammed home a Napper pass 12 seconds later. Southern Miss would ultimately fall behind by nine before Bolden and Harris scored on back-to-back possessions to make it a five-point game at the final buzzer.
Napper's 29 points led all players and Bolden finished with 15 -- Napper also led all Golden Eagles with eight rebounds. Napper's 27 shot attempts were the most by a Golden Eagle since Greg Johnson attempted 25 field goals against South Florida in 2003. Morman would add six points and finish with a season-high five rebounds. Southern Miss shot a respectable 47 percent from the floor, while Rice shot at a 38.7 percent clip.
Southern Miss will close out the regular season at home next week with UAB (Wednesday) and Charlotte (Saturday). Tipoff against the Blazers is at 7 p.m. CST.
Game Notes
- Tyler Morman finished with a season-high five rebounds.
- Walyn Napper poured in a career-high 29 points on 12-of-27 from the floor. Fifteen of his points came in the first half.
- Napper was the first Golden Eagle to attempt more than 25 shots since Greg Johnson attempted 25 field goals in 2003.
"I'll take responsibility for how we executed there at the end of the game with the lead - a little lead - but we had the lead nonetheless," said head coach Jay Ladner. "We had some success in the post all night and I thought we did a really good job of running our sets."
The Golden Eagles (6-23, 1-15 C-USA) utilized a 13-3 run and an 11-0 run in the first half to pull ahead by four heading into the break. The Southern Miss advantage was at eight just before Rice nailed a pair of jumpers with less than a minute to play in the half. Napper contributed with 15 points in the first half, and helped Southern Miss hold the lead for a majority of the opening frame.
Freshman Rashad Bolden knocked down a jumper to open the scoring in the second half and combined with Napper to score the first 10 points. Southern Miss pushed ahead by eight before Travis Evee drained back-to-back-to-back triples to give Rice a two-point lead with 10:15 play. Right on cue, Napper drained a three-pointer from way beyond the arc as the shot clock expired, then Isaih Moore threw down a dunk to swing the momentum and lead back Southern Miss' side.
"Walyn has been playing really well over the last couple of games," Ladner said. "He's beginning to hit his stride and I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight. Rashad and Isaih had solid games, too."
Rice would go on to take the lead back via a Carl Pierre free throw and would not relinquish it until Moore scored the most important basket of the night for Southern Miss. The forward curled off a screen and received a lob from Napper to tie the game at 64-all with less than 10 seconds to play. The slam gave Moore 17 points on the night and notched Napper his fourth assist. Rice's three-point heave at the buzzer bounced off the rim to send the game to overtime.
Denijay Harris cut hard to the hoop to get Southern Miss on the board after Rice opened overtime with an Evee triple, but Max Fiedler and Chris Mullins connected on a pair of big shots to make it a five-point game with 1:29 play. Tyler Morman would make it a two-point game as he slammed home a Napper pass 12 seconds later. Southern Miss would ultimately fall behind by nine before Bolden and Harris scored on back-to-back possessions to make it a five-point game at the final buzzer.
Napper's 29 points led all players and Bolden finished with 15 -- Napper also led all Golden Eagles with eight rebounds. Napper's 27 shot attempts were the most by a Golden Eagle since Greg Johnson attempted 25 field goals against South Florida in 2003. Morman would add six points and finish with a season-high five rebounds. Southern Miss shot a respectable 47 percent from the floor, while Rice shot at a 38.7 percent clip.
Southern Miss will close out the regular season at home next week with UAB (Wednesday) and Charlotte (Saturday). Tipoff against the Blazers is at 7 p.m. CST.
Game Notes
- Tyler Morman finished with a season-high five rebounds.
- Walyn Napper poured in a career-high 29 points on 12-of-27 from the floor. Fifteen of his points came in the first half.
- Napper was the first Golden Eagle to attempt more than 25 shots since Greg Johnson attempted 25 field goals in 2003.