University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, January 17
Charlotte, NC
6 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
at
Charlotte
Golden Eagles set for Thursday road game at Charlotte
1/16/2019 10:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss men's basketball team is set to fly the friendly skies as it plays at Charlotte on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.
The action from Halton Arena will air on CUSA.tv, and John Cox will have the radio call on the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the USM Gameday app.
– Southern Miss is coming off a weekend sweep of Middle Tennessee (77-70) and UAB (73-68). The Golden Eagles never trailed and led by as much as 16 over the Blue Raiders, and then had 28 lead changes and 14 ties in a barn-burner with the Blazers. LaDavius Draine's three-pointer with 36 seconds left gave Southern Miss the lead for good and began the game-ending 7-0 run.
– Draine is shooting 47.8 percent from beyond the arc this season (and 57.1 in league play), which both rank No. 4 in C-USA. As for the latter number, his 16 makes are more than the top three players combined. Nine of the sophomore's 13 double-figure scoring games have come away from home, and another group of those 10 have come against C-USA foes. Since last season, he has improved his 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 47.8, his scoring from 5.5 to 10.1 ppg, and he has committed just five turnovers in 364 minutes. Draine's 83 percent free-throw shooting (19-for-23) also leads the team.
– Southern Miss' 72-54 win was the first of the Doc Sadler era. The Golden Eagles led 22-7, and after the 49ers rallied to within 30-27 early in the second half, since-graduated D'Angelo Richardson converted a four-point play that began a 22-4 run. The largest separation was 30 points at 2:33.
– Charlotte is led by first-year head coach Ron Sanchez, who was most recently at Virginia for nine seasons. Senior guard Jon Davis remains arguably the most-talented offensive player in the league. His second 30-point game of the season came Jan. 5 when he dropped 37 against Marshall. He also had a game-winning triple against Oklahoma State and 31 in the opener versus Chattanooga.
– The 49ers and Golden Eagles are dead-even at the top of C-USA for three-point percentage in league play (44 percent), and are eighth and sixth on the defensive end, respectively. It is a testament to Charlotte's recent play with its overall three-point mark sitting at 31 percent.
– The Black and Gold have found a new offensive weapon lately: the charity stripe. Southern Miss went 29-for-38 (76.3 percent) the last two games after having just 45 attempts the previous five contests. Leonard Harper-Baker had a clutch career-night in the UAB game, going 8-for-12 at the line en route to his first double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). He had been 4-for-21 the previous eight games.
– Southern Miss is the only C-USA school to have not allowed 80 points in a game this season. It happened to the Golden Eagles eight times in each of the last two seasons, and this current 15-game streak is a single-season best since the 2011-12 squad did so in its final 24 games. The Golden Eagles are allowing their opponents just a 39.9 percent shooting clip this season after it was 46.1 last season. Middle Tennessee is the only team to score 40-plus points in a half since North Florida.
– Southern Miss is No. 1 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.72) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.7 pg). As for the latter category, the Black and Gold have made major improvements over the course of Sadler's tenure. The team was No. 296 in the 2014-15 season, then finished No. 245, 117 and No. 5 in 2017-18 (first time averaging less than 10 per game since the 2008-09 season).
– Tyree Griffin against C-USA opponents is first in assists (7.2), second in assist-turnover ratio (2.6) and third in steals (2.0), while Edwards ranks third in steals (2.0) and ninth in rebounding (6.8). Griffin has 315 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
The action from Halton Arena will air on CUSA.tv, and John Cox will have the radio call on the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the USM Gameday app.
– Southern Miss is coming off a weekend sweep of Middle Tennessee (77-70) and UAB (73-68). The Golden Eagles never trailed and led by as much as 16 over the Blue Raiders, and then had 28 lead changes and 14 ties in a barn-burner with the Blazers. LaDavius Draine's three-pointer with 36 seconds left gave Southern Miss the lead for good and began the game-ending 7-0 run.
– Draine is shooting 47.8 percent from beyond the arc this season (and 57.1 in league play), which both rank No. 4 in C-USA. As for the latter number, his 16 makes are more than the top three players combined. Nine of the sophomore's 13 double-figure scoring games have come away from home, and another group of those 10 have come against C-USA foes. Since last season, he has improved his 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 47.8, his scoring from 5.5 to 10.1 ppg, and he has committed just five turnovers in 364 minutes. Draine's 83 percent free-throw shooting (19-for-23) also leads the team.
– Southern Miss' 72-54 win was the first of the Doc Sadler era. The Golden Eagles led 22-7, and after the 49ers rallied to within 30-27 early in the second half, since-graduated D'Angelo Richardson converted a four-point play that began a 22-4 run. The largest separation was 30 points at 2:33.
– Charlotte is led by first-year head coach Ron Sanchez, who was most recently at Virginia for nine seasons. Senior guard Jon Davis remains arguably the most-talented offensive player in the league. His second 30-point game of the season came Jan. 5 when he dropped 37 against Marshall. He also had a game-winning triple against Oklahoma State and 31 in the opener versus Chattanooga.
– The 49ers and Golden Eagles are dead-even at the top of C-USA for three-point percentage in league play (44 percent), and are eighth and sixth on the defensive end, respectively. It is a testament to Charlotte's recent play with its overall three-point mark sitting at 31 percent.
– The Black and Gold have found a new offensive weapon lately: the charity stripe. Southern Miss went 29-for-38 (76.3 percent) the last two games after having just 45 attempts the previous five contests. Leonard Harper-Baker had a clutch career-night in the UAB game, going 8-for-12 at the line en route to his first double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). He had been 4-for-21 the previous eight games.
– Southern Miss is the only C-USA school to have not allowed 80 points in a game this season. It happened to the Golden Eagles eight times in each of the last two seasons, and this current 15-game streak is a single-season best since the 2011-12 squad did so in its final 24 games. The Golden Eagles are allowing their opponents just a 39.9 percent shooting clip this season after it was 46.1 last season. Middle Tennessee is the only team to score 40-plus points in a half since North Florida.
– Southern Miss is No. 1 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.72) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.7 pg). As for the latter category, the Black and Gold have made major improvements over the course of Sadler's tenure. The team was No. 296 in the 2014-15 season, then finished No. 245, 117 and No. 5 in 2017-18 (first time averaging less than 10 per game since the 2008-09 season).
– Tyree Griffin against C-USA opponents is first in assists (7.2), second in assist-turnover ratio (2.6) and third in steals (2.0), while Edwards ranks third in steals (2.0) and ninth in rebounding (6.8). Griffin has 315 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
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