5 Big Things We Learned From Southern Miss’ Loss at No. 18 Iowa State

Southern Miss men’s basketball went toe-to-toe with No. 18 Iowa State for most of the first half at Hilton Coliseum on Friday night, but early foul trouble for starting guards Isaac Taveras and Anthony Igiede opened the door for the Cyclones to pull away for a lopsided win, 83-57.

The loss drops the Golden Eagles to 1-1 on the season after they opened with a win over Tougaloo on Monday night at Reed Green Coliseum. Iowa State also moved to 1-1.

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Make no mistake, a 26-point loss is a 26-point loss, and nobody on the Golden Eagles’ staff or roster is going to pretend otherwise. But anyone who only glances at the final score is going to miss the good that happened for Southern Miss in Ames. The Golden Eagles trailed just 23-22 against a top-20 team on the road, and it wasn’t until the Golden Eagles were playing without their two best guards that things started to unravel.

So what should Southern Miss fans take away from a night like this? Here are five big things we learned from Southern Miss’ loss at No. 18 Iowa State.

Measuring Stick: Southern Miss Can Hang With a Ranked Team on the Road

Nov 6, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) and Southern Miss Golden Eagles guard Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt (2) battle for lose ball at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Hilton Coliseum is one of the toughest road environments in college basketball, and Iowa State rarely lets visitors hang around for long. For the better part of the first half, though, Southern Miss did exactly that, matching the Cyclones basket for basket and trailing 23-22 a little more than 10 minutes in.

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That’s the kind of stretch that should give this group some real confidence heading into the rest of nonconference play, and it’s the kind of stretch the Southern Miss coaching staff was hoping to see when it put this game on the schedule.

“Last night’s game was a great measuring stick for our basketball team,”…

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Publish date : 2026-11-08 02:03:00

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