University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Hosts Memphis in Clash for First-Place
1/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2012
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USM Game Notes in PDF Format 
| Memphis Game Notes in PDF Format
Southern Miss and Memphis will meet for the 88th time on the hardwood, with Memphis holding a 64-23 advantage in the Golden Eagles' longest running rivalry. In Hattiesburg, the Tigers lead 21-13. Southern Miss is looking for its first win over UM since 2004, as the Tigers have won the last 18 meetings, including a 60-58 decision earlier this year at Memphis.
Southern Miss enters Wednesday night's contest with a 19-3 record, and 6-1 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles defeated UCF, 78-65, last Saturday in Orlando.
Neil Watson scored a career-high 23 points and Darnell Dodson added 22. Watson, who hit four-of-seven three-pointers, added six assists and Dodson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Angelo Johnson scored nine points and Jonathan Mills added seven points and six boards.
LaShay Page leads the Black and Gold with 12.9 points. He is second in the league in three-pointers made (2.8) and is ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.377). Dodson is scoring 12.5 points while pulling down 5.6 rebounds.
Watson is adding 11.3 points while connecting on 87.8% of his free throws, which leads C-USA. He is also fourth in assists (4.4). Maurice Bolden is scoring 10.7 points while grabbing a team-high 6.1 rebounds. He is also 10th in the league with 1.3 blocks per game. 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 61.9. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.2-percent of their shots and 37.4% of their three-pointers. Their opposition is connecting on 41.5% from the field and 34.0-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 37.5-to-32.0, a difference of 5.5 per game, good for third on Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league in free throw percentage (.746).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 136-107 (.560) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 396-252 (.611).
Memphis comes into Wednesday night's game with a 15-6 record, 6-1 in C-USA. The Tigers have won three straight after defeating Marshall, 83-76, Saturday night.
Sophomore guard Will Barton led Memphis with a career-high 29 points while also pulling down a game high eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Tarik Black scored a season-high 19 points and senior guard Wesley Witherspoon added 12 points.
Memphis is led by Barton with a league-leading 18.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, which is sixth in the conference. He is also fifth in steals (1.5) and ninth in field goal percentage (.507). Sophomore guard Joe Jackson is second on the team with 10.0 points and is tied for second in Conference USA in free throw percentage (.867). Black is scoring 9.7 points while ranking third in C-USA with 2.0 blocks. Sophomore guard Chris Crawford is also third in the league in steals (1.6) and seventh in assists (3.8).
As a team, the Tigers are leading the league in scoring with 75.1 points per game, while allowing 66.0. UM is shooting 48.5-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on just 38.2-percent, both of which are league bests. Memphis is pulling down 36.0 boards per game, while allowing 34.1. The Tigers are also connecting on 37.8-percent of its three-point attempts, second in the league, while holding its opposition to 31.2%, which is third. Memphis also leads C-USA with 6.5 blocks and is third in free throw percentage (.709) and steals (7.4).
Head coach Josh Pastner is in his third season at the helm of the Memphis men's basketball program. He has compiled a 64-26 (.711) record as its head coach.
