University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles End Road Trip, At Arkansas State
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles End Road Trip, At Arkansas State HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
In the first three games of the road trip, Southern Miss lost at Murray State and then beat Hampton and Samford to win the Winthrop Tournament.
The Golden Eagles currently are 4-1. Arkansas State is 5-1, and fresh off a 64-63 victory at Liberty. The Indians also beat Ole Miss, 74-69, at Ole Miss, in their opening regular season game, and then posted victories over West Alabama (98-57), Harding (87-81) and Sam Houston State (106-87) while losing to Toledo (64-63).
The Eagles and Indians first played in 1955, and Southern Miss leads the series, 14-12. Arkansas State has won the last two games, and seven of the last 10 games. In last year's game, in Hattiesburg, the Eagles made just 17-of-48 field goals (.354), trailed 29-20 at the half, and just never managed to get back in the game in the second half.
Arkansas State currently has four players averaging double-figure points, led by J.J. Montgomery who is at 21.0 points a game and Dewarick Spencer who is a close second, at 20.3 points. The Indians are averaging 82.0 points a game, while giving up 70.2, and are outrebounding the combined opposition by an impressive 38.7-to-31.0 margin.
Through five games, Southern Miss has two players with double-figure averages. Charles Gaines is at 15.8 points a game and Jasper Johnson at 14.8. Gaines also leads the team in rebounding, at 11.0 a game. The Eagles are averaging 70.0 points a game, allowing 68.4, and hold a healthy 37.6-to-31.2 edge in rebounding.
Following Saturday's game, the Eagles return home for Dec. 17 and 22 games, against Georgia Southern and William Carey, respectively, and then will end 2003 play with a Dec. 30 game at Auburn.