HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) Tyree Griffin scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, both career highs, to lead Southern Miss Golden Eagles past NAIA Southern-New Orleans 79-69 in the season opener Friday night.

Dominic Magee added 15 points, and Tim Rowe and Cortez Edwards had 10 each for Southern Miss, which controlled the glass 48-38 and dominated at the free-throw line, hitting 30 of 45 to Southern-New Orleans' 12 for 21.

Griffin is a junior transfer from Oklahoma State, who along with Grand Canyon transfer Magee sat out last season because of NCAA transfer rules.

Southern Miss led 40-27 at the break and continued to pull away in the second half, getting a layup from Griffin with 8:30 left to make it 73-47.

Southern-New Orleans got 13 points and seven rebounds from D'Ante Russell-Hall and Marcel Daniels had 12 points.

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