University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Falls To Houston, 63-53
1/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Basketball Falls To Houston, 63-53
HOUSTON, Texas -- The Southern Miss basketball team fell once again in Conference USA play, losing to host Houston, 63-53, here in front of 3,883 at the Hofheinz Pavilion.
The loss dropped the Golden Eagles to 9-7 on the season and 0-4 in league play, while the Cougars improved to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in the league.
After Southern Miss kicked off the game with a 5-0 advantage, Houston went on a 16-0 run and took an 11-point lead with 13:01 remaining in the first half. That would be a lead that the Cougars never relinquished and resulted in a 32-22 advantage at the break.
The lead grew to as many as 19 in the second half, but Golden Eagles battled back, eventually pulling to within four points twice in the final minutes. But that would be the closest Southern Miss would get in the game as Houston came away with the 10-point victory.
In all, the Cougars made just six more shots that Southern Miss but 11 of those came from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles had the slight edge in rebounding 33-31, but lost the turnover battle 21-13.
Michael Ford and Jasper Johnson both led Southern Miss with 14 points each, while Johnson had a team-high nine rebounds. Brian Latham led Houston with 19 points, while Andre Owens and Lanny Smith added 18 and 13 points, respectively. Ramon Dyer had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Southern Miss now returns home for a four-game homestand that begins with Wednesday's game against Saint Louis. Tip-off for that contest is set for 7 p.m.
