University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Play Well, But Lose At Auburn
12/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Eagles Play Well, But Lose At Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. ? The Southern Miss men?s basketball team played a solid second half, outscoring Auburn 35-34, but could not make up a 10-point halftime deficit as the Golden Eagles dropped a 64-55 decision to the Tigers, here, Saturday night.
The loss was the second straight for the Eagles and dropped their record to 5-5, while Auburn improved to 8-3.
Southern Miss kept the game close for the first half of the initial 20 minutes and were trailing only 17-15 at the 10:51 mark. However, the Tigers outscored the Eagles 13-5 the remainder of the half to build a 30-20 halftime lead.
Southern Miss shot just .320 (8-25) in that first half, but also limited Auburn to .367 (11-30) shooting. Auburn led by as many as 13 in the second half, and Southern Miss got to within six points on at least two occasions in the second half. Auburn used solid free throw shooting down the stretch to put the game away. The Tigers finished with 19-of-30 shooting from the line, while Southern Miss managed just 12-of-22.
Clement Carter and Elvin Mims led the Eagles with 12 points each, and Mims grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Derrick Bird and Adam Harrington did most of the scoring damage for the Tigers with 20 and 24 points, respectively. The remainder of the Tiger squad accounted for just 20 points. In fact, that duo scored 25 of the last 28 points Auburn scored, over the final 16:46 of the game.
The Golden Eagle defense limited the Tigers to just seven second half field goals, three of them three point baskets. Auburn had nine three-point baskets to just three for the Eagles.
Auburn outrebounded Southern Miss, 39-to-30, but Mims' nine and Ben Lambert's eight topped the Tigers' Bird, who finished with seven.
Southern Miss now gets another short break before opening Conference USA play, Jan. 5, at Memphis.