University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Advance With 63-61 Win Over Cincinnati
3/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Advance With 63-61 Win Over Cincinnati
Louisville, Ky. - Southern Miss went toe-to-toe with No. 5 seed Cincinnati for a full 40 minutes, and a Jasper Johnson tip-in with 3.8-seconds remaining lifted the Golden Eagles to a 63-61 win over the Bearcats and earned Southern Miss a second round game against No. 4 seed Saint Louis in Thursday's quarterfinal round at Freedom Hall.
The victory has to rank very high on Head Coach James Green's personal list at Southern Miss, Cincinnati has gone into every previous C-USA Tournament as the number one seed, and was the No. 5 seed in this year's tournament after finishing at 17-10, and 9-7 in the league. This also was Green's first victory over the Bearcats, and also snapped a nine-game losing streak to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati led most of the first half, by as many as 10 points, but the Eagles hung around and cut the deficit to just one, 35-34, at halftime. Greg Johnson hit a season-high 16 points in that first half, on 7-of-13 shooting.
The Golden Eagles gained the lead for the first time, 46-45, on a Jasper Johnson layup at the 13:26 mark of the second half. Though the score was tied several times thereafter, Southern Miss did not trail again in the second half and led by as many as five points two different times. One of those ties was 61-61 with :42 left. After a time-out with :14 left, Southern Miss got several shots at the basket before redshirt freshman forward Jasper Johnson tipped in a teammates' miss with 3.8 seconds remaining. A last-second Cincinnati shot was wide, leaving the Golden Eagles with certainly their biggest victory of the current season.
Greg Johnson led Southern Miss with 21 points and eight rebounds, including a pair of late free throws. Jasper Johnson added 15 points, as did Charles Gaines. Jason Maxiell led the Bearcats with 17 points.
Cincinnati made just 21-of-55 (.382) field goals while Southern Miss shot .381 (24-63). After trailing 19-13 in rebounds after one half, the Eagles put together a strong second half and finished the game with a 39-37 edge. The Eagles also committed only eight turnovers, matching their season-best in that category.
The Southern Miss victory marked the third time a No. 12 seed beat a No, 5 seed, and the Golden Eagles also can take comfort knowing that two other teams, Saint Louis and Charlotte, have won four straight games to win C-USA championships.
