LAFAYETTE, La. — Southern Miss started a long road swing by hitting a speed bump.

Kentrell Garnett and Themus Fulks each posted career-highs in scoring, combining to go 14-for-19 from the field, and Louisiana-Lafayette led from the opening tip to the final buzzer in beating Southern Miss 75-61 on Thursday.

Garnett finished with 20 points, while Fulks scored 17. Jordan Brown also had eight points and eight rebounds, and Terence Lewis had eight points and nine rebounds for the Ragin’ Cajuns (11-4, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference).

Louisiana started the game with a 14-4 run and never trailed. Another 11-0 run late in the first half gave it a 14-point halftime lead, and Southern Miss never got closer than seven points in the second half.

Louisiana was 14-for-27 (51.8 percent) from the field overall, and made seven 3-pointers in the first half. It shot 50 percent for the game.

Southern Miss shot just 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) from the field in the first half. DeAndre Pinckney led the Golden Eagles with 21 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Austin Crowly added 14 points, and Felipe Haase scored nine.

Southern Miss (13-3, 2-1) had a two-game winning streak snapped in the first of four consecutive road games. It plays at Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at 2 p.m.

Southern Miss is 10-0 at home and on neutral courts this season, but only 3-3 in true road games.