University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Shoot For Third Straight Win
2/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles Shoot For Third Straight Win
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Following a successful three-game road trip that produced a pair of Conference USA victories, Southern Miss returns home to host a UAB team that has been playing as well as any team in Conference USA. The Blazers currently show a 13-6 record and are 6-2 in C-USA.
UAB had won four in a row and seven of the its last eight games, prior to losing, 73-55, at Louisville over the weekend.
Wednesday's game is scheduled for a 7:06 p.m., start and will be televised on CSS, with Matt Coulter doing the play-by-play and Sonny Smith handling color commentary.
Southern Miss trails 12-8 in the series with UAB. The two teams split a pair of games last season, with each winning at home. The Golden Eagles earned their 82-80 double-overtime victory thanks to a Jasper Johnson baseline jumper with under a second left in the second extra period. Johnson's late three-pointer in regulation got the Eagles into overtime.
Mo Finely continues to lead UAB in scoring at 12.3 points a game, and gets help from Gabe Kennedy at 11.9 points a game and Ronell Taylor at 10.2.
UAB also continues to outscore opponents over eight points a game, 74.7-to-66.4, but trails in the rebounding department, 35.7-to-41.0.
For the past two games, Southern Miss changed the starting lineup it had used for the nine previous games, going with Jason Forte and Jarekus Singleton, in place of David Haywood and Clement Carter, in a three-guard offense. The changes led to a pair of league victories on the road for the Eagles, over Tulane and Houston.
Charles Gaines continues to lead Golden Eagle scorers, at 15.5 points a game and is the top Southern Miss rebounder, at a league-best 10.6 a game.
Following the UAB game, the Eagles have a quick turnaround for a Friday night game at South Florida, and then will play four of the final six games of the season in the friendly confines of Green Coliseum, starting with a Feb. 18 game against Houston
