University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
UAB
Second Half Drought Dooms Southern Miss in 63-56 Defeat
1/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss scored four points in a span of nine minutes during the second half, turning a five-point lead into an eight point deficit and leading to a 63-56 defeat to UAB, Saturday night at Reed Green Coliseum.
The loss was the Golden Eagles' eight straight and dropped them to 5-11 overall and 0-5 in Conference USA. It is the first time they lost eight straight and started 0-5 in conference play since 2004-05.
Mat Bingaya led all scorers with 17 points while grabbing five rebounds. Rasham Suarez tied a season-high with 16 points and Norville Carey added 14 points and a game-high seven boards.
"It's the same story," said Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler. "Everyone wants to win. Players, coaches, fans, everybody. We're doing enough effort-wise to get wins, we're just not doing enough execution-wise. Right now, we have no luxury for any part of the game to not be as good as it can be. To give up 19 points off offensive rebounds is the difference in the game. We got our turnovers down, which is good, but for us to get a win, we've got to do a lot of things, and not do anything bad. We just didn't do enough on the defensive boards."
UAB led, 36-31, at the half. Southern Miss used an 11-2 run over the first 4:10 of the second half to take a 42-38 lead, capped off by a three-pointer from Bingaya. Chris Cokley cut the deficit to two, but Bingaya hit another three, this time as the shot clock was winding down, to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the game at 45-40.
However, in its next 13 possessions, Southern Miss missed eight straight shots and turned the ball over five times, as UAB turned the five-pointer deficit into a 57-49 lead with five minutes to play.
After a missed three by Chip Armelin, Carey forced a turnover by Tosin Mehinti and made a layup. Armelin then made a jumper to cut the deficit to four points. But, Cokley made a jumper to push the lead back to six.
Bingaya then made a jumper, and following a minute and a half without scoring, Suarez went to the line with a chance to cut the deficit to two points. But, he made just one, and on the ensuing possession, Robert Brown hit a jumper with time ticking down on the shot clock to make it 61-56 with 58 seconds to play. Southern Miss would not score again.
Southern Miss won the tip and Suarez immediately got into the paint for a layup. UAB hit back-to-back jumpers before Bingaya found Suarez for a three-pointer. Tosin Mehinti made one-of-two free throws, and following a Michael O'Donnell turnover, Hakeem Baxter hit a three for an 8-5 UAB lead, 3:39 into the game.
After Carey made a jumper, William Lee made a pair of free throws. Carey then converted a three-point play to tie the game at 10 with 14:52 to play. However, the Golden Eagles went without a field goal for the next five minutes, as UAB took a 16-12 lead.
Armelin and Carey each made one-of two free throws and Suarez gave Southern Miss the lead with a three. But, Nick Norton answered with a three of his own to UAB a 19-17 lead with 8:40 to play.
After the teams traded threes, Bingaya found Keljin Blevins cutting to the basket for a reverse layup to tie the game at 22. But, Robert Brown hit a three to give the Blazers a 25-22 lead with 6:07 to play in the half.
Southern Miss then scored six straight points over the next 1:46 to take a 28-25 lead. But, UAB closed the half on a 10-3 run for a 36-36 halftime lead.
The Black and Gold connected on 45.5% (20-of-44) from the floor, including 31.6% (6-of-19) from three. UAB shot just 40.0% (20-of-50) from the field, but hit 47.1% (8-of-17) from three. Southern Miss hit just 58.8% (10-of-17) from the line, while UAB connected on 75.0% (15-of-20).
Brown scored 15 points to lead the Blazers, while Cokley added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Southern Miss makes its second trip to Texas next week, beginning Thursday, January 2, when it travels to Houston to face Rice. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
