University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles' Road Troubles Continue
1/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles' Road Troubles Continue
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss continued to have trouble winning on the road when UAB handed the Golden Eagles their second straight Conference USA road defeat.
The loss dropped Southern Miss to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the league. UAB improved to 11-4 overall, and 3-1 in C-USA.
The Blazers jumped ahead with the first basket of the game, Southern Miss fought back to take its only lead of the game, 16-15 at the 13:04 mark of the first half, but UAB quickly pushed back in front, led by as many as 10 in the first half and by eight, 40-32, at halftime.
The closest Southern Miss was able to get in the second half was seven points, early in the second 20-minutes, and UAB's largest lead was 20 points, midway through the second half. After the Golden Eagles cut the deficit to seven points, 44-37, at the 17:41 mark in the second half, UAB then proceeded to put together a 16-4 run over the next 6:33, to build a 60-41 margin with 10:46 left.
Southern Miss continued to play hard, and late in the game cut the margin to single digits, 80-71, but that was with only :33 remaining in the game, and then had to send the Blazers to the free throw line in an effort to get closer. As it had done throughout the game, UAB made its free throws, finishing with 19-of-25, and had no trouble holding on to win the game.
Poor shooting and turnovers again contributed to the Golden Eagles' downfall. Southern Miss shot .407 (22-54), but committed 24 turnovers. The Blazers committed 19 turnovers themselves, but turned in a .508 (30-59) shooting night.
Southern Miss again won the rebounding battle, 38-30, with Charles Gaines leading both teams with 14. Gaines also had a game-high 19 points, earning his eighth double-double of the season. Greg Johnson added 15 points, and Jasper Johnson had 13.
UAB's Morris Finley matched Johnson's 19 points, and teammates Demario Eddins and Cedric Davis added 15 and 10 points respectively. Eleven different players scored for the Blazers, while all nine Golden Eagles who dressed played at least 15 minutes, and eight of the nine scored.
Southern Miss did shoot the ball well from the free throw line, hitting 22-of-30 (.733), including Jasper Johnson's 6-for-6 game.
