Southern Miss basketball officially kicked off its preseason with a 101-65 exhibition win over Delta State on Tuesday night.
Leading the Golden Eagles was Victor Hart, who scored 20 points and brought down nine rebounds. Austin Crowley, who was named the Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year, had 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Three other players for USM also reached double digits.
However, dampening the win was news that came prior to the game about star guard Neftali Alvarez having potentially season-ending surgery on Monday. Alvarez had surgery a third surgery on the same foot that has caused issues for him throughout his career. However, the injury is not the same as last year’s that sidelined him in the postseason.
Alvarez has the potential to return in 10 weeks, but that will depend on how Alvarez heals. In 15 games last year, Alvarez averaged 7.8 points and 2.9 assists per game last year.
“It’s to be determined,” said Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner on Alvarez’s injury. “It’s on the outside of his foot. He’s such a valuable person on and off the floor. He’s a great leader. He’s tough. He changes the game while he is in there. It’s a tough deal for us to lose him. I want what’s best for him. He has a great professional career ahead of him, so we have to do what we can to get him healthy. It hurts.
“Anytime you lose a player of that caliber, it’s tough.”
Southern Miss has still yet to receive any word on St. John’s transfer Andre Curbelo NCAA waiver. According to Ladner, he believes that the program could receive word in 10 business days as of Tuesday.
“That’s why the Curbelo situation has big bearing because if he can get back, then we can talk about holding Nefta until next year and get him back on a medical redshirt,” Ladner said. “They are asking questions. That’s a good thing…He seems to check a lot of boxes of what they said are prerequisites for having a strong consideration.”
Curbelo, a guard, averaged 9.6 points per game last year and had been named the Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year during his freshman season at Illinois. Notably, Curbelo experienced a concussion last week but will come out of protocol by Thursday.
Southern Miss will also be without Lieb Yat, who is a 7-foot big man from junior college, as he tore his ACL this offseason. Luke Ladner, Jay Ladner’s son, has missed due to a bulging disc.
The Golden Eagles will host Mississippi State for a second exhibition game this Sunday, with tip-off set for 2 p.m. All proceeds from the game will go towards helping tornado victims in Northern Mississippi this past spring.
Follow @AndrewAbadie on Twitter and Facebook for Southern Miss coverage.
