University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Try To Stay Undefeated
11/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Golden Eagles Try To Stay Undefeated
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss tries to make it three in a row tonight when Troy State visits for a 7 p.m., game in Green Coliseum.
Southern Miss leads the series with the Trojans, 11-0. The two teams last played in 1999, a game won by the Golden Eagles, 61-46. Prior to that game, Southern Miss and Troy State had not played since 1974, in a series that actually started in 1950.
Both teams are coming off victories and both are undefeated at 2-0. The Trojans, coached by Southern Miss grad Don Maestri for the past 21 seasons, beat Southeastern Louisiana 87-81 Monday night in Hammond, La., and posted a 116-74 victory over Knoxville College two nights earlier.
After two games, the visiting Trojans show six players averaging in double figures, led by junior guard Greg Davis, at 14.5 points a game. Troy State is averaging 101.5 points a game, shooting .471 from the field, .412 from three-point range, and outrebounding the combined opposition, 48.5-to-39.0.
For the Golden Eagles, who have had to come from behind twice to win, junior forward Charles Gaines has had games of 33 and 34 points and leads the team in scoring at 33.5 points a game. He also has been in double figures rebounding in both games, and leads the team, at 12.0 rebounds a game.
Three other Golden Eagles are in double figures as well, including junior forward Greg Johnson, at 15.0 points a game.
Following tonight's game, the Eagles entertain South Alabama Saturday night, as part of a football-basketball twinbill, with Southern Miss entertaining East Carolina in a 2 p.m., C-USA football matchup, and Head Coach James Green and his Golden Eagles hosting South Alabama in a 7 p.m., game.
After the four-straight home games to open the season, Southern Miss then goes on the road for the first time when they play in the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa, Dec. 6-7. The Golden Eagles meet Jacksonville in the first round, and then either host Iowa or Montana in second night action.