GAME NOTES: After each team started their season with a win Friday night, the South Alabama Jaguars and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles will square off in a non-conference clash at Reed Green Coliseum Monday.

South Alabama was able to dispose of Carroll on Friday night, 83-64, for the team's first victory of the season. After the Jaguars finished the 2013-14 campaign with an 11-20 overall record, the team will need as many non- conference wins as possible to get in good standing this season.

Like South Alabama, Southern Miss took on a sub-division opponent in the college basketball season opener Friday and defeated William Carey, 86-63. The Golden Eagles finished with the best record in Conference USA last season, but lost a significant amount of talent in the offseason.

This matchup between the sides will represent the 39th time they've met on the basketball court. Southern Miss leads the all-time series over South Alabama, 23-15. The two sides clashed last season, which saw the Eagles come away with a 66-59 victory.

Coach Matthew Graves' Jaguars finished the 2013-14 season as the second-worst team in the Sun Belt Conference with an 11-20 record overall and a 5-13 mark in league play. Offensively it was a struggle for the team last season, as South Alabama shot a league-worst 40.3 percent from the floor. There's no more Augustine Rubit, no more Mychal Ammons and no more Antoine Allen on this year's South Alabama squad, which could spell trouble in the scoring department going forward.

John Brown picked up the slack against Carroll on Friday, netting a team-high 22 points in the win. Brown connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the game, which helped his squad make 44 percent of its shots from distance. Ken Williams netted 18 points, and Barrington Stevens poured in 10 with a team- best four assists for the Jaguars. Abdul Lewis led the team on the boards with 10 in the contest. Rebounding was a strength of South Alabama's last season, and with 38 boards on opening night, it looks like it could be the same this season.

There may be no team in Conference USA this season that has a larger turnaround from one year to the next than Southern Miss, and not in a good way. The Golden Eagles tied atop the conference standings last season at 13-3, and ended with a 29-7 record - the best in the league. But player turnover hit the Eagles hard in the offseason. Last year's top scorers Michael Craig, Neil Watson and Daveon Boardingham are all gone. Aaron Brown is no longer on the roster, and Jerrold Brooks isn't with the program. That means all five of the team's top scorers from last season aren't back, and leaves redshirt freshman Matt Bingaya (5.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg) as the go-to player.

Bingaya was indeed the go-to player against William Carey, netting a team-best 20 points with 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Shadell Millinghaus contributed 19 points in the win, and both Chip Armelin and Dallas Anglin scored 11 points for the Golden Eagles, with Armelin adding seven rebounds and three assists.

It will be a long process for the Golden Eagles, but with some time they could make a dent in the Conference USA standings. As for competing this season, it doesn't appear too likely after losing so much talent. Still, having the home advantage against a South Alabama team that also is struggling from significant losses should give Southern Miss the edge.