University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Looks to Snap Skid against Rice
2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2012
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team looks to snap its two-game losing streak this Saturday, Feb. 25, when it hosts Rice. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on CSS.
Southern Miss and Rice will meet for just the 10th time on the hardwood, with the Golden Eagles holding a 5-4 advantage. USM has won four of the last five games. In Hattiesburg, the Golden Eagles lead 3-1. Last year, Southern Miss defeated Rice in overtime, 81-78, in Houston.
Southern Miss enters Saturday night's contest with a 22-6 record, and 9-4 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are looking to snap a two-game losing streak after falling 76-68 to UTEP in double-overtime last Wednesday.
Darnell Dodson led Southern Miss with 16 points and eight rebounds. Jonathan Mills recorded his third straight double-double, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds. LaShay Page scored 12 points and Angelo Johnson added 11.
LaShay Page is leading the team with 12.1 points. He also leads the league in minutes played (36.8), is third in three-pointers made (2.4) and is 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.360). Watson is second on the team with 12.0 points per game. He is connecting on 86.9-percent of his free throws to lead Conference USA and is third in assists (4.6). Darnell Dodson is scoring 11.6 points while pulling down 4.9 rebounds.
Maurice Bolden is scoring 9.8 points while grabbing 5.3 rebounds. He is also 10th in the league with 1.2 blocks per game. Jonathan Mills is also scoring 9.6 points and leads the team with 6.1 rebounds.
As a team, Southern Miss is scoring 72.1 points and is allowing just 64.1. The Golden Eagles are hitting just 41.9-percent of their shots and 36.7% of their three-pointers. Their opposition is connecting on 43.6% 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 36.5-to-32.2, a difference of 4.3 per game, good for third on Conference USA. The Golden Eagles are also leading the league in free throw percentage (.751).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 139-110 (.558) record during his time as head coach. In 21 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 399-255 (.610).
Rice comes into Saturday night's game with a 16-13 record, 7-6 in C-USA. The Owls have won three of their last four games after defeating UCF, 83-74, Wednesday night.
Freshman guard Dylan Ennis led Rice with 15 points. Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi scored 12 points and had a game-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Tamir Jackson had 11 points and freshman forward Jarelle Reischel added 10.
The Owls are led by Kazemi with 12.1 points and 10.5 rebounds, which leads Conference USA. He also leads the league in steals (2.2) and is third in field goal percentage (.586). Jackson is second on the team with 11.1 points and senior guard Connor Frizzelle is scoring 9.6 points
As a team, Rice is scoring 70.0 points per game and are allowing just 66.1. The Owls are shooting 44.3-percent from the floor while allowing their opponents to connect on 41.4-percent. Rice is also connecting on 34.7-percent from three-point range and is allowing 35.7%. The Owls are pulling down 36.2 boards per game and giving up 34.6. Rice is also second in C-USA in assists (14.4).
Head coach Ben Braun is in his fourth season at the helm of the Rice men's basketball program. He has compiled a 48-75 (.390) record as its head coach. In 35 years as a head coach, Braun is 600-494 (.548).
