University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles set for Thursday contest at Rice
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team has hit the road for its final two-game road swing of the regular season. The tour of Texas begins Thursday at 7 p.m. at Rice.
Fans can tune in through the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg) and CUSA.tv.
- Southern Miss enters the penultimate regular-season weekend with three-game leads in the win column over North Texas and FIU for the final Conference USA Championships slot. The Golden Eagles are also a half-game behind Charlotte and Florida Atlantic in the 10-12 rankings. It would be the program's first trip to the event since a postseason ban accompanied the previous two seasons.
- Edwards will look to be the pick to click again Thursday night against an Owl team he recorded 14 points and 12 assists against on Jan. 21. The Golden Eagles fell behind 42-18 before Quinton Campbell's 70-footer at the buzzer hit off the rim in the 61-58 loss. The largest comeback win in program history was on Senior Day 2015 against UTEP, a 24-point deficit that was overcome. The Owls also scored the final nine points of the first half to lead 34-16.
- Southern Miss is looking for its first win over Rice since an 84-62 decision on Jan. 16, 2014. The last four matchups have been decided by an average of 3.5 points.
- Thursday's game against FIU was absolutely one for the ages. Southern Miss trailed by 11 with five minutes left before a 15-0 run gave it a 56-52 lead with 1:45 left. The Panthers eventually tied it on a late three-pointer and then scored the first six points of overtime. The Golden Eagles erupted at the right time, as back-to-back Quinton Campbell three-pointers tied it before D'Angelo Richardson connected on a desperation heave as time expired for a 69-66 win. All nine overtime points came in the final 1:27.
- There were several notable feats accomplished over the weekend and Saturday in particular. Cortez Edwards over that span averaged 40.0 minutes, 21.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.5 turnovers while going 17-for-27 on overall shooting and 5-for-7 for three-pointers. He became the first Golden Eagle with consecutive double-doubles since Norville Carey in Jan. 2015.
- Southern Miss also committed an outrageously-low two turnovers on Saturday, making it the sixth team in Division I on the year to commit that many or less (4,991 games as of Monday, Feb. 20). The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent in the second half, ending the year with a 50 percent or higher shooting mark in eight of the final 10 home games.
- A few other guys in the Black and Gold rose to the occasion last weekend and will look to continue that trend in Texas. Eddie Davis III had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Michael Ramey, playing his final home game as a senior, played a career-high 33 minutes. He also knocked down two three-pointers and all four of his free-throw attempts for 12 points, his first in double-digits since Jan. 26 at Middle Tennessee. Raheem Watts sank a long-range jumper early in the contest, giving him five makes in eight tries. He had made two all season long prior.
- Rice had its five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday to UTEP at home. Southern Miss can also claim credit for holding the Owls to their fewest points in a game this calendar year. Rice's 78.6 points per game against C-USA opponents ranks second in the league. Marcus Evans (20.4) and Egor Koulechov (18.5) each rank in the top-five for scoring as well.
