University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Men's Hoops Open Conference Play against East Carolina
1/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team begins its conference slate this Wednesday, Jan. 4th, when it hosts East Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
This will be the 18th meeting between Southern Miss and East Carolina, with the Golden Eagles holding a slim 10-7 advantage. Southern Miss has won the last five meetings and 10 of the last 11. In games played in Hattiesburg, Southern Miss holds a 6-2 lead.
Southern Miss is entering its 17th season in Conference USA. In conference openers, the Golden Eagles are 9-7. When opening the conference season at home, Southern Miss is 6-2. In home openers, they are 10-6. The Golden Eagles are looking for their second straight conference opening victory.
The Black and Gold enter Wednesday night's conference opener with a 13-2 record. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 65-56 victory at McNeese State.
LaShay Page led all players with 29 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting. Neil Watson added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Torye Pelham led the Golden Eagles with eight rebounds.
Darnell Dodson leads the Black and Gold with 15.0 points and 7.2 rebounds. Page is scoring 14.1 points and is third in the league in three-pointers made (2.9) and is seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.386).
Maurice Bolden is scoring 11.3 points while grabbing 6.7 rebounds. He is also seventh in the league with 1.6 blocks per game. Angelo Johnson is also scoring 11.3 points and is dishing out 3.4 assists. Neil Watson is adding 10.3 points while connecting on 88.6% of his free throws, good for second in C-USA.
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 73.7 points and is allowing just 61.1. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.6-percent of their shots and 38.7% of their three-pointers, which leads Conference USA. Their opposition is connecting on 40.5% from the field and 31.8-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 38.6-to-31.7, a difference of 6.9 per game. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league in free throw percentage (.755).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 130-106 (.551) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 390-251 (.608).
East Carolina comes into Wednesday's conference opener with a 9-4 record. The Pirates have won their last five games after defeating Virginia-Wise, 91-56, Saturday afternoon.
Junior forward Maurice Kemp posted his third straight double-double, scoring a career-high 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Paris Roberts-Campbell scored a career-high 17 points and senior forward Darius Morrow added 15.
ECU is led by junior guard Miguel Paul with 15.6 points, which is eighth in the Conference USA. He also leads the league in assists with 5.7, is second in steals (1.9), third in assist/turnover ratio (2.6) and is eighth in free throw percentage (.776). Morrow is second on the team with 13.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. Kemp is averaging 10.4 points while leading the team with 7.2 boards. Junior guard Shamarr Bowden is second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (44.1%) and fourth in three-point field goals made (2.3).
As a team, East Carolina is scoring 73.4 points per game while allowing 6.2. The Cowboys are shooting 43.6-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on just 38.7-percent. The Pirates are pulling down 40.2 boards per game, while allowing 34.6. ECU is also connecting on 33.0-percent of its three-point attempts while holding its opposition to just 27.0%, tops in C-USA. East Carolina also leads the league in steals (9.6) and is second in assists (14.7) and three-pointers made (7.2).
Head coach Jeff Lebo is in his second season at the helm of the East Carolina men's basketball program. He has compiled a 27-20 (.574) record as its head coach. In 12 years as a head coach, Lebo owns a 238-176 (.575) record.
