University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Closes Road Trip at UCF
1/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2012
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USM Game Notes in PDF Format 
| UCF Game Notes in PDF Format
Southern Miss and UCF will meet for just the 10th time, with the Golden Eagles holding a 5-4 advantage. Southern Miss has won four of the last six meetings, but are looking for their first victory in Orlando, as UCF as won the previous three contests.
Southern Miss enters Saturday night's contest with an 18-3 record, and 5-1 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles defeated East Carolina, 72-60, last Wednesday.
Jonathan Mills led a group of five Golden Eagles in double-digits with 13 points and eight rebounds. LaShay Page scored 12 points and Neil Watson had 11 points and nine assists. Darnell Dodson and Torye Pelham had 10 points apiece. Maurice Bolden added 11 rebounds.
Page leads the Black and Gold with 13.3 points. He is second in the league in three-pointers made (2.9) and is fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.385). Darnell Dodson is scoring 11.6 points while pulling down 5.4 rebounds.
Bolden is scoring 10.8 points while grabbing a team-high 6.3 rebounds. He is also eighth in the league with 1.4 blocks per game. Watson is adding 10.7 points while connecting on 89.3% of his free throws, which leads C-USA. He is also fifth in assists (4.3). Angelo Johnson is also scoring 10.1 points and is ninth in the conference with 3.4 assists.
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 72.0 points and is allowing just 61.7. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.0-percent of their shots and 37.6% of their three-pointers. Their opposition is connecting on 41.6% from the field and 34.2-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 37.6-to-32.0, a difference of 5.6 per game, good for third on Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league in free throw percentage (.749).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 135-107 (.557) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 395-252 (.611).
UCF comes into Saturday's contest with a 15-5 record, 5-2 in Conference USA. The Knights area coming off a 66-61 loss at Tulsa Wednesday night.
Junior forward Keith Clanton recorded a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior guard A.J. Rompza scored 11 points and sophomore forward Tristan Spurlock added 10 points.
UCF is led by junior guard Marcus Jordan with 15.6 points, which is fifth in Conference USA. He also leads the league in minutes played (36.7). Clanton is sixth in the conference with 15.6 points and fifth 9.2 rebounds. He is also fourth in blocked shots (1.9). Sophomore guard Isaiah Sykes is averaging 11.3 points while placing sixth in the league in field goal percentage (537).
As a team, the Knights are scoring 65.9 points per game while allowing 60.5. UCF is shooting 42.6-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on just 41.3-percent. UCF is pulling down 38.0 boards per game, which is second in C-USA, while allowing 33.4. The Knights are also connecting on just 30.2-percent of its three-point attempts while holding its opposition to just 30.5%, third in C-USA.
Head coach Donnie Jones is in his second season at the helm of the UCF men's basketball program. He has compiled a 36-17 (.679) record as its head coach. In five years as a head coach, Jones owns a 91-58 (.611) record.
