University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Faces Memphis in Key Conference Match-Up
1/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team closes a two-game road trip this Wednesday, Jan. 11, when it travels to Memphis. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on CSS.
Southern Miss and Memphis will meet for the 87th time on the hardwood, with Memphis holding a 63-23 advantage in the Golden Eagles' longest running rivalry. In Memphis, the Tigers lead 39-8. Southern Miss is looking for its first win over UM since 2004, as the Tigers have won the last 17 meetings.
Southern Miss enters Wednesday night's contest with a 15-2 record, and 2-0 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 71-66 overtime victory at Tulane last Saturday.
Neil Watson led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and five assists. Maurice Bolden scored five assists and Torye Pelham scored 11. LaShay Page, held scoreless for the first time this season, had a game and career-high eight rebounds.
Darnell Dodson leads the Black and Gold with 13.7 points while pulling down 6.1 rebounds. Page is scoring 13.6 points and is second in the league in three-pointers made (2.9) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.382).
Bolden is scoring 11.5 points while grabbing a team-high 6.2 rebounds. He is also eighth in the league with 1.6 blocks per game. Angelo Johnson is also scoring 10.9 points and is eighth in the conference with 3.5 assists. Watson is adding 10.6 points while connecting on 88.9% of his free throws, which leads C-USA. He is also fifth in assists (4.2).
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 73.8 points and is allowing just 62.2. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.4-percent of their shots and 38.3% of their three-pointers, which is third in Conference USA. Their opposition is connecting on 41.3% from the field and 33.1-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 38.2-to-31.5, a difference of 6.6 per game. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league in free throw percentage (.757).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 132-106 (.555) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 392-251 (.610).
Memphis comes into Wednesday night's game with a 10-5 record, 1-0 in C-USA. The Tigers have won four straight after defeating UAB, 62-59, Saturday night in their conference opener.
Sophomore guard Will Barton led Memphis with his eighth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Adonis Thomas scored 15 points and sophomore guard Chris Crawford added 10 points and three steals.
Memphis is led by Barton with a league-leading 18.9 points and 8.9 rebounds, which is sixth in the conference. He is also eighth in steals (1.4) and ninth in field goal percentage (.508). Sophomore guard Joe Jackson is second on the team with 10.8 points, while ranking fourth in Conference USA in free throw percentage (.839). Thomas is scoring 9.9 points and sophomore forward Tarik Black is scoring 9.1 while ranking fourth in C-USA with 1.8 blocks. Crawford is also second in the league in steals (1.9) and sixth in assists (4.1).
As a team, the Tigers are scoring 76.1 points per game, good for second in Conference USA, while allowing 68.8. UM is shooting a league-best 48.5-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on just 38.1-percent, second in C-USA. Memphis is pulling down 35.9 boards per game, while allowing 35.8. The Tigers are also connecting on 38.6-percent of its three-point attempts, second in the league, while holding its opposition to 32.4%. Memphis also leads C-USA with 7.2 blocks and is third with 7.5 steals.
Head coach Josh Pastner is in his third season at the helm of the Memphis men's basketball program. He has compiled a 59-25 (.702) record as its head coach.
