University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles End Regular Season at 13-14
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Files associated with this release:
Final Game Statistics
2004 C-USA Tournament Bracket
Eagles End Regular Season at 13-14
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss stayed close to East Carolina throughout the first half, trailing just 28-26 after 20 minutes, but used a Golden Eagle scoring slump in the second half to pull away and record a 63-50 decision, in a game that had no effect on the final pairings for next week's Conference USA Tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In today's game, Southern Miss led several times early in the game, and kept things under control throughout the first half, despite shooting just .321 (9-28). However, in the second half, with the Eagles trailing by only two points, 35-33, the visitors proceeded to put together a 20-2 run over the next 10:42, and the resulting 55-35 Pirate lead proved to be more than the Eagles could overcome.
Playing under interim Head Coach Jeff Norwood following the Friday resignation of James Green, Southern Miss did put together a late run that got the Eagles back to within as few as nine points, but time was too short and eventually ran out with ECU holding a 13-point lead.
Southern Miss fans said good-bye to three outstanding seniors in pregame ceremonies. Clement Carter, Charles Gaines and Greg Johnson all ended their Green Coliseum careers. Gaines did so in typical fashion, leading the Eagles with a game-high 21 points. No other Eagle was in double figures.
ECU put four players in double figures, with Derrick Wiley leading the way with 15. The Pirates shot a cool .543 (25-46), while holding the Eagles to just .310 (18-58) shooting.
Today's games finalized the bracket for the Kelley Tires Conference USA Tournament, Mar. 10-13, at the U.S. Bank Arena. Southern Miss, with the No. 10 seed, will meet No. 7 seed Saint Louis. The Eagles lost to the Billikens Jan. 13 in St. Louis, Mo., 56-55, and, amazingly, with this year's pairing against Saint Louis, Southern Miss will have met the Billikens six times, and opened the event with Saint Louis on five occasions in the nine-year history of he league.
Final regular season standings actually produced a five-way tie for first place, and league tie-breaking procedures were used to seed DePaul No. 1, Memphis No. 2, Cincinnati No. 3, UAB No. 4 and Charlotte No. 5, from that group. The four top-seeded teams receive first round byes, and first-day games, in addition to Southern Miss and Saint Louis, will send Charlotte against Tulane at noon, Marquette against TCU at 2:30 p.m., and Louisville against East Carolina at 6.
