University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Takes on Tulane in Conference USA Road Opener
1/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2012
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team heads on the road for the first time in conference play this Saturday, Jan. 7, when it travels to Tulane. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
Southern Miss and Tulane will meet for the 74th time, with the Green Wave holding a 40-33 advantage. However, the Golden Eagles have won the last five meetings and eight of the last nine games. In games played in New Orleans, Tulane holds a 23-12 lead. Last year, Southern Miss swept the season-series, 67-54, in Hattiesburg and 63-47 in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament.
Southern Miss enters Saturday afternoon's contest with a 14-2 record, and 1-0 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 78-76 victory over East Carolina in its conference opener.
LaShay Page connected on six three-pointers for the second game in a row to lead Southern Miss with 20 points. Darnell Dodson had 17 points and six rebounds, while Neil Watson scored 11 points. Maurice Bolden scored 10 points and Torye Pelham had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Dodson leads the Black and Gold with 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds. Page is scoring 14.5 points and leads in the league in three-pointers made (3.1) and is fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.400).
Bolden is scoring 11.3 points while grabbing 6.5 rebounds. He is also seventh in the league with 1.5 blocks per game. Angelo Johnson is also scoring 11.1 points and is seventh in the conference with 3.6 assists. Watson is adding 10.3 points while connecting on 88.1% of his free throws, good for second in C-USA.
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 74.0 points and is allowing just 62.0. The Golden Eagles are hitting 42.8-percent of their shots and 38.4% of their three-pointers, which is third in Conference USA. Their opposition is connecting on 41.2% from the field and 32.6-percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles hold the advantage on the boards, as they are outrebounding their opponents 38.4-to-31.3, a difference of 7.1 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 131-106 (.553) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 391-251 (.609).
Tulane comes into Saturday's home conference opener with a 12-3 record, 0-1 in C-USA. The Green Wave started 11-1 but has lost two of their last three after falling 60-53 at UCF in their conference opener.
Junior guard Jordan Callahan led Tulane with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. Junior guard Kendall Timmons missed his second straight double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and freshman guard Ricky Tarrant added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Tulane is led by Timmons with 13.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. Tarrant is second on the team with 11.8 points and 3.1 assists. Sophomore forward Josh Davis is averaging 11.8 points while placing fourth in the league with 9.8 rebounds. Callahan is scoring 10.9 points and connecting on 38.9-percent of his three-point attempts.
As a team, the Green Wave are scoring 67.9 points per game while allowing a league-low 54.5. Tulane is shooting 42.9-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on just 38.0-percent, tops in C-USA. TU is pulling down 37.9 boards per game, while allowing 31.9. Tulane is also connecting on 36.2-percent of its three-point attempts while holding its opposition to just 31.0%.
Head coach Ed Conroy is in his second season at the helm of the Tulane men's basketball program. He has compiled a 25-20 (.556) record as its head coach. In nine years as a head coach, Conroy owns a 115-153 (.429) record.
