University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Open C-USA Play Against TCU
1/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Open C-USA Play Against TCU
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss and TCU both open their Conference USA schedules when the Horned Frogs visit Green Coliseum for a 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 8, game that will mark just the third meeting ever between the two schools.
In the previous two games, both played last season in TCU's first season of full membership in Conference USA, the two teams split, each winning at home, TCU, 75-61, in Fort Worth, and Southern Miss 81-68, in Hattiesburg.
Both teams go into Wednesday's game off victories over the weekend, Southern Miss, a 56-54 win over Murray State, and TCU, a 102-89 victory, over Centenary. TCU is 5-5 following that victory, while Southern Miss improved to 7-4.
The Horned Frogs are playing their first season under new head coach Neil Dougherty, who took over at TCU after a successful eight-year stint as an assistant coach at Kansas. He also coached two seasons at Vanderbilt, and is one of four first-year coaches in the league this season. He also is one of 11 league coaches who has been at his current school five seasons or less.
TCU comes into the game off back-to-back 100-plus point games, and averaging 83.0 points a game, while giving up 82.8. The Horned Frogs show four players averaging double figures, led by Junior Blount, at 18.1 points a game. Corey Santee is close behind at 16.2 points a game, followed by Bingo Merriex at 11.6 and Chudi Chinweze at 10.9. The Horned Frogs biggest victory of the season was an 86-83 victory over Washington State. In its two most recent games, TCU has beaten Grambling, 103-84, and Centenary, 102-89.
For Southern Miss through 11 games, the Eagles are averaging 65.7 points a game, and giving up 66.7, thanks, in part, to the 46-point loss at Auburn. Charles Gaines continues to lead USM at 14.8 points a game. Greg Johnson is the only other Golden Eagle in double figures, at 11.5 points a game. Gaines also leads the team in rebounding, at 9.4 a game. The only other Golden Eagle in double figures is junior Greg Johnson, who is at 11.5 points a game. Freshman Jasper Johnson, who scored a career high 18 points in the Murray State game, has upped his average to 8.9 points a game.
Following tonight's game, the Eagles entertain long-time rival Memphis in a 4 p.m., Saturday game.
