University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season at East Carolina
3/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team concludes its regular season this Saturday, March 6, when it travels to Greenville, N.C. to face East Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
This will be the 15th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1971. The series is tied, 7-7. However, Southern Miss has won seven of the last eight games. In Greenville, East Carolina leads 5-2, but Southern Miss has won two of the last three. Earlier this year, the Golden Eagles defeated the Pirates, 68-53, in Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss enters its regular season finale with a 17-12 record and 7-8 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak on Tuesday, downing Tulane, 66-57, at Reed Green Coliseum.
Junior Gary Flowers and sophomore Maurice Bolden each recorded double-doubles for the Golden Eagles. Flowers scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Bolden scored 16 points and pulled down 12 boards. Junior Sai'Quon Stone was two rebounds shy of a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Flowers is in tenth-place in Conference USA with 14.8 points. He is also tenth in field goal percentage, connecting on 47.2-percent of his shots, seventh in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game and fourth in blocks (1.8).
Johnson is second on the team with 9.6 points per game. He is also third in the league in free throw percentage, connecting on 82.0-percent of his shots from the charity stripe. Bolden is scoring 9.3 points, while junior guard R.L. Horton is also contributing 8.9 points.
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 65.1 points per game, while allowing 59.9, tops in the conference. The Golden Eagles are third in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 37.6 boards per game while giving up just 30.6 to the opposition, which is second in the conference. The Black and Gold are connecting on 42.1-percent of their shots, while their opponents are hitting just 40.3-percent. Southern Miss is also second in the league in three-point percentage defense, as opponents are hitting just 30.2-percent from beyond the arc.
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his sixth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 92-92 (.500) record during his time as head coach. In 18 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 352-237 (.598).
East Carolina enters Saturday night's contest with a 10-19 record. They are 4-11 in conference. The Pirates snapped a two game losing streak after defeating UCF, 68-66.
Junior forward Jamar Abrams had a game-high 20 points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Darrius Morrow scored 14 points and had six rebounds, while junior guard Jontae Sherrod added 10 points and five assists.
Junior guard Brock Young is seventh in C-USA with 15.3 points while dishing out a league-best 5.6 assists. He also leads the league in free throw percentage, connecting on 82.7-percent from the line. Morrow is second on the team with 12.3 points and leads the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 56.2-percent of his shots. He also leads the team with 6.7 rebounds. Abrams is averaging 11.3 points and Sherrod is scoring 9.8 points.
As a team, the Pirates are averaging 66.8 points per game while allowing 74.3. East Carolina is grabbing 35.8 rebounds per game, while giving up 34.4. ECU is connecting on 43.4-percent of its shots while allowing the opposition to score 43.6-percent of the time.
Head coach Mack McCarthy is in his third season leading the East Carolina men's basketball program. He currently holds a 34-55 (.382) record. In 19 years, McCarthy is 343-232 (.597).
