University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Defeats Jackson State, 83-58
11/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Southern Miss Defeats Jackson State, 83-58
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? The Southern Miss men?s basketball team opened its season tonight with an 83-58 win over Jackson State in Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles controlled the lead throughout the game, allowing the Tigers to get no closer than 18 points in the second half.
Brad Richardson led Southern Miss with 21 points, and four other Golden Eagle players reached double-figure scoring, with Elvin Mims collecting 14, Bernard Duncan and Clement Carter 11 each and Ben Lambert finished with 10 points.
Carter led the Eagles with nine rebounds. Richardson and Dante Stiggers each collected three assists for team best.
Eric Large scored 22 points to lead Jackson State. Kendell Noel had 11 points, and Tim Henderson and Cliff Walker claimed 10 points each.
Henderson pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Tigers. Royal Maxwell and Large each dished out two assists for team high.
Southern Miss shot 54.8 from the field for the game, while limiting Jackson State to just 31.6 percent shooting. Good defense also was demonstrated by the Eagles, who finished with 15 steals and forcing the Tigers to commit 22 turnovers.
The Eagles claimed a 50-30 halftime advantage, taking their biggest lead of the first period into intermission. Southern Miss started the game with a 6-0 run, and Jackson State never came closer than 12 in the spread, 29-17, in final 10 minutes of the opening period.
Richardson led the Eagles with 13 points in the first half. Southern Miss forced the Tigers to commit 13 first-half turnovers, while collecting 11 steals.
Large and Noel led Jackson State with nine points each in the first half. As a team, the Tigers shot 28.6 percent from the field in the opening period.
Southern Miss starts the year at 1-0, and Jackson State begins at 0-1. The Golden Eagles travel to the Hispanic College Fund Classic, in Albuquerque, N.M., facing West Virginia on Friday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. Southern Miss will face either Pacific or host New Mexico in the second round of the Thanksgiving tournament on Saturday, Nov. 24.