University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Head For Winthrop Tournament
12/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Head For Winthrop Tournament HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
Southern Miss meets Hampton, of the MEAC, in opening-round play, at 5 p.m., Friday. Winthrop plays host to Samford in the second game, and consolation and championship games are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m., Saturday.
Southern Miss has a limited history with the other three teams in the tournament. The Eagles have never played the Pirates from Hampton or the Eagles from Winthrop. The Golden Eagles own a 14-1 "modern-day" record against Samford.
Samford also lists two games that were played in 1925, both won by Southern Miss, that would push the USM advantage to 16-1. The two teams last played in 1986, a game won by the Golden Eagles, 87-77.
Southern Miss has enjoyed considerable success in in-season tournaments in recent years. That includes a number of first place finished, including the 1999-00 Hoop & Quill Classic in St. Louis, the 1997-98 Arkansas-Little Rock Invitational, the 1991-92 Cowboy Shootout in Casper, Wyo., and the 1989-90 Blue Angel Classic in Pensacola, Fla.
In Head Coach James Green's eight in-season tournaments, his teams have finished first twice, second once, third four times and fourth only once. Two of the third place finishes came in six-team events (in Hawaii and in San Juan, P.R.).
Southern Miss won its first two games, at home, then lost its first road game of the season, at Murray State, and will take a 2-1 record into the tournament. Jasper Johnson continues to lead Golden Eagle scorers, at 18.0 points a game. Charles Gaines is at 14.7 points a game, and carries a double-double average, also averaging 11.7 rebounds a game.
Hampton is fresh from a 96-82 loss to Akron and shows a 1-4 record, with losses to Wichita State (68-65), Monmouth (64-52) and VCU (67-51) to go with a season-opening 68-64 win over LaSalle. The Pirates were scheduled to play at Davidson (Dec. 3), prior to the Winthrop Tournament.
Devin Green leads Hampton in scoring, at 16.6 points a game, and is close to double figures in rebounding, at 8.4 a game.