The number three has been a bad omen for Southern Miss this season. Three times this season Southern Miss has gone on a three-game losing streak while away from home, including one as they made their homestand coming into tonight. Once again, the number three haunted them against North Texas as the Mean Green connected on 11 of their 27 three-point attempts to defeat the Golden Eagles 72-52.

North Texas opened the game up with a three-point shot from junior guard James Reese, giving the Mean Green an early 3-0 lead. Two Tyler Stevenson jumpers gave Southern Miss a 4-3 lead, but a Umoja Gibson three put North Texas up 6-3, a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest.

"We've got a lot of coaches and players new to each other, and a lot of guys as well that are new to Division I basketball," Ladner said. "We went through a five-minute stretch where we got outscored 10-1 or so. It went from seven to 17 in a hurry. We left a lot of points on the board offensively, whether it was turning the ball over, not seeing an open man or just missing the shot. Defensively, we left guys open. It's a multitude of things with the youth on our team."

Southern miss drew as close as 34-30 during the first half of action, but North Texas went on a 9-2 run as Javion Hamlet led the way with seven points during the run. The Mean Green took a 44-34 lead into the locker room.

Buckets were a rarity early in the second half as Reese and Southern Miss’ Gabe Watson were the only two players to score in the first four minutes of action.

Southern Miss drew within seven of North Texas with 10:59 remaining, but a 20-7 that featured scoring from Dang Geu and a three from Gibson sealed Southern Miss’ fate.

"We have a hard time getting caught in the flow of the game, whereas a good team will dictate the flow of it," Ladner said. "We had similar situations late with a lead at UTEP and a small deficit at UTSA, and the same thing happened tonight with nine minutes left. We look at the film, lineups, and everything, but we just have to find consistency and it's my job as the head coach to figure that out," said Ladner.

What’s next

Southern Miss falls to 4-14 overall (0-5 C-USA) and will host Rice Saturday at 2 p.m.

North Texas moves to 10-8 overall (4-1 C-USA) and faces Louisiana Tech Saturday at 4 p.m.

Notes

Umoja Gibson was the leading scorer for North Texas with 17 points.

Boban Jacdonmi had a team-high 13 points for Southern Miss. Tyler Stevenson led the way with 10 rebounds while Gabe Watson led with three assists.

Tyler Stevenson (10 points, 10 rebounds) posted his second double-double. It was also the 13th time this season he has scored in double-figures (15th of career).

Southern Miss attempted just five three-pointers, the first time it had single-digit tries since a Feb. 14, 2015 win over FAU (9).