University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Drops League Game To Nationally Ranked Cincinnati
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Files associated with this release:
Final Statistics (PDF)
Final Statistics (HTML)
Basketball Drops League Game To Nationally Ranked Cincinnati
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- While Southern Miss battled to just a six-point deficit at halftime, the nationally ranked Cincinnati Bearcats proved to be too much to handle in the second half, as the Golden Eagles dropped an 83-51 decision, Wednesday, at the Fifth Third Arena here in Cincinnati.
With the loss, Southern Miss fell to 10-14 overall and 1-11 in Conference USA play, while the Bearcats, ranked No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll, improved to 19-6 overall and 7-4 in the league.
Wednesday's game marked the final time that the two teams would compete as members of the same league, with Cincinnati moving to the Big East for the 2005-06 athletic season.
Southern Miss started off quickly in the game, jumping out to a six-point lead with 15:57 remaining in the opening period. But the Bearcats battled back and tied the game moments later, 8-8, at the 14:23 mark. The lead would change hands five more times before Cincinnati took the lead for good, 18-17, with 9:30 left in the first half. That advantage grew to as many as nine points in the first half, but the Golden Eagles trimmed at the deficit and were down just six, 38-32, at the break.
It was early moments of the second half, however, that Cincinnati all but put the game away. In the first two minutes of play, the Bearcats built an 11-point lead with 18:09 left in the game, and the lead never got any closer.
Southern Miss still had three players score in double figures in the losing effort, with Rashaad Carruth leading the way with 16 points and five rebounds. David Haywood scored 13 points off the bench, and Mildon Ambres chipped in with 10.
The Bearcats also had three players score in double digits. Jason Maxiell led all players with 20 points on the night, while Eric Hicks added 18 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Jihad Muhammad had 15 points.
The Golden Eagles now return to Reed Green Coliseum to host Memphis in the second-to-last home game on Saturday. The game is set to be televised on ESPN Plus and has a Noon tip-off. Following the Memphis game, Southern Miss takes to the road for a two-game stretch with East Carolina and Charlotte, before coming back to Hattiesburg for the regular season finale against TCU on March 5.
