Southern Miss basketball gets career-high 31 points from Victor Iwuakor to dump Western Michigan
HATTIESBURG – The last five seconds of the first half said it all.
Southern Miss basketball forced a missed jump shot by Western Michigan and Victor Iwuakor pulled down the rebound. He then bolted up the left side of the court, hit the brakes just shy of the 3-point line and heaved a 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Swish.
That was good for Iwuakor’s 20th, 21st and 22nd points of the game. He finished with a career-high 31 points, and probably could’ve had more had Southern Miss (14-11, 7-5 Sun Belt Conference) not separated in the second half for the 86-54 win Saturday against Western Michigan (8-16, 5-6 MAC) at Reed Green Coliseum in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
It was complete dominance from Southern Miss’ senior forward: 31 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, three blocks in 34 minutes.
Juan Cardona coached for the second game in a row as Jay Ladner continues to recover from a heart-related medical emergency that hospitalized him on Tuesday. Cardona is 2-0 as acting head coach.
“I’m just happy for (Iwuakor),” Cardona said. “I know he’s fought and he’s battled. This is his third school he’s been (to). To see him perform like that and the skill development that we have here is elite.”
Making the performance even more impressive is the way Iwuakor’s first four seasons in college basketball unfolded.
He played two years at Oklahoma as a four-star high school recruit before transferring to UNLV for two more seasons.
In those four seasons, Iwuakor averaged just 2.6 points while playing in 12.3 minutes per game before transferring to Southern Miss. He only scored double-digit points three times before the season, but has now scored in double figures in five consecutive games and in eight of the last nine games.
His previous career-high was 18 points, which he set on Dec. 9 versus Northwestern State. He’s now one of four Southern Miss players to score at least 30 points in a game since Ladner became the coach in 2019. Senior guard Austin Crowley joined that group on Wednesday when he scored 30 points against Old Dominion.
Iwuakor is also 8-of-15 from 3-point range on the season. He was 1-for-9 in his career before arriving at Southern Miss.
“We knew we had to come out and play,” Iwuakor said. “It’s what coach was preaching, just show up, and that’s what we did today.”
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Iwuakor made his first eight field-goal attempts, utilizing his 6-foot-8, 205-pound frame to slither and elevate over defenders in and around the paint.
His first miss came with 1:09 to play in the first half on a layup that rimmed out of the basket.
He was quieter in the second half with nine points, but grabbed seven rebounds and three steals. Iwuakor said he wasn’t sure if Western Michigan changed its defensive approach in the second half, but an eye-test says it brought more double teams and played him tighter on the pick-and-roll.
It created more opportunities for others as the Golden Eagles went on a 28-2 run in the second half. Center Tegra Izay scored 11 points in the second half, putting him at 13 points and a career-high, too.
“Championship teams,” Cardona said, “when they smell blood, they go for the kill.”
Victor Hart returns, Andre Curbelo still out
Southern Miss has been playing without starters Victor Hart and Andre Curbelo since Jan. 13, but Hart finally made his return to the lineup Saturday after sustaining a knee injury.
He played 16 minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points with a 3-for-4 mark from downtown.
“It felt fun to be out there with my guys,” Hart said. “They motivated me throughout the process. It’s been tough, but with these guys around me, we can do anything.”
Meanwhile, Curbelo returned to the Southern Miss bench after he was absent on Wednesday due to the flu.
Cardona said Curbelo is “very close” to making his return. He added that he practiced on Friday and his headaches have gone away, but he’s still fighting through some dizziness and will see a doctor on Monday.
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss basketball dominant against Western Michigan
