University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Men's Basketball set to host North Texas on Saturday
1/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss picked up a huge 86-75 win over Rice on Thursday to keep its unbeaten home streak alive, and the journey continues Saturday when North Texas comes to town for a 4 p.m. CT matchup.
The Golden Eagles (10-10, 3-4 C-USA) had four players produce double-figure scoring against Rice on Thursday, led by Dominic Magee with 22 points on 7-for-9 shooting. North Texas (10-9, 3-3 C-USA) dropped a heartbreaker to Louisiana Tech that night, as the Bulldogs made two free-throws with a second remaining to win 66-65.
Fans unable to make it to the game can follow along with the live video stream on CUSA.tv with John Cox on the call for that and the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel).
â€" Every victory inside Reed Green Coliseum this season has been by double-digits. The Golden Eagles have scored 85-plus points in each of their three home C-USA wins as well. The squad also has its most wins since the 2011-12 season (62 victories vacated from 2012-15).
â€" The Golden Eagles defeated Rice despite having just 17 rebounds. It was the fewest in a game since having 16 versus Tennessee Tech in 1984. The only other instances since then where the team had fewer than 20 were 19 each against Cincinnati in 2005 and UAB last Thursday. The Black and Gold also won its first game being out-shot since Feb. 16, 2017 versus FIU (in overtime).
â€" Southern Miss swept the season series last year and has won 12 of the last 13 head-to-head battles with North Texas. The last contest saw the Golden Eagles win 76-53 in Denton, then the largest margin of victory in the Doc Sadler era, which also clinched the team's first C-USA Championship appearance since its two-year postseason ban. Michael Ramey made six consecutive three-pointers in that emphatic win.
â€" LaDavius Draine continued his explosive ascent into being a secret weapon for the Golden Eagles. He had a career-high 16 points on Thursday, including a key baseline jumper in the final minute to give Southern Miss an 82-75 lead after Rice nearly came back from a 20-point deficit. He is averaging 16.3 points over 25 minutes per game over the last three contests after playing just 79 all year prior (and nine minutes since November).
â€" Griffin's 115 assists puts him 17 away from having the most of any player in a single season of the Doc Sadler era. He is currently No. 11 against C-USA foes for scoring (15.5 ppg), third in assists (5.8 apg), third in steals (2.0 pg) and third in assist-turnover ratio (2.6). He is also 9-for-15 on three-pointers the last three games (22-for-68 prior to that stretch).
â€" Cortez Edwards had six steals against the Owls, tying for seventh-most in school history. Neil Watson also had six against ECU on March 8, 2012. Edwards also had 10 assists with his 13 points, coming that close to the first Golden Eagle triple-double since Ronald Jackson in 1980. He is No. 15 nationally with 2.4 swipes per game and has scored in double-figures in all but two games this season. His 16.1 ppg leads the team.
â€" Southern Miss went 15-for-16 at the foul line on Saturday (93.8 percent) and has shot 80 percent or better from the free-throw line in six consecutive games. It was the team's first 90-percent game since Feb. 16, 2017 versus FIU. Included in that mark is a 29-for-35 clip in the Jan. 6 win over UTSA (30 of those attempts came in the second half, with D'Angelo Richardson going 10-for-10 on the day).
â€" Southern Miss has moved to fourth and seventh nationally for fewest turnovers per game (9.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.61). Florida State has been the only team so far to edge the Black and Gold in the turnover battle. Southern Miss' 23 assists versus Rice were its most against a Division I team since March 4, 2008 versus UTEP. It also had 32 versus Rust on Dec. 3, 2017.
â€" Southern Miss, despite shooting 53.6 percent in the first half, improved its second-half field-goal percentage for the ninth time in its last 10 games. The Golden Eagles started 7-for-7 and 11-for-13 in the final period against Rice.
