University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
-86, 02 CUSA
Rice
-69, 11 CUSA
Rice rallies in second half to defeat Southern Miss
1/3/2019 6:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTONÂ -- The 2019 calendar year did not start as hoped for the Southern Miss men's basketball team, as Rice overcame a 42-33 halftime deficit to win 73-65 on Thursday afternoon.
It was the Golden Eagles' fifth consecutive road game, having spanned Wichita State, Kansas State, South Dakota and Louisiana Tech since Dec. 16.
"Scoring has been a problem for us since the first few games of the season," head coach Doc Sadler said. "We've just been unable to get baskets. I told the team at halftime that that was the hardest we've played in a long time, I was very pleased with us getting transition baskets. We also held Rice to a good 33 points at the break, and while we kept working at getting good looks, the shots just weren't going into the basket."
Rice outscored Southern Miss 24-6 to start the second half and regain the lead, forcing a Golden Eagle timeout at 8:30 with a 57-48 deficit. LaDavius Draine immediately drew a foul and went 2-for-2 at the line which kicked off an 8-0 run that brought the Golden Eagles back within 57-56 at 6:42. Rice's Jack Williams connected on a deep ball with 5:46 left to move the lead back to four, and Southern Miss never got any closer.
"Sixty-five points in a game is not enough to beat a team that's been good at home," Sadler said. "You can't fault the players' effort, since it's completely there, but we're gonna have to keep looking at the film and keep trying to make some shots."
Tyree Griffin banked in a shot at the buzzer from just inside half-court to give the Golden Eagles a 42-33 halftime lead. The Black and Gold ended the half on an 8-0 run over the final 1:06 on a Leonard Harper-Baker layup and Cortez Edwards three-pointer.
Southern Miss (8-6, 0-2 C-USA)Â concludes its six-game road marathon Saturday at North Texas. Tip-off on ESPN Plus is set for 5 p.m. CT.
NOTABLE
-Rice tied the all-time series at 10-10.
-Tim Rowe reached double-figure scoring for the second time this season with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. He missed the previous game due to the flu.
-Cortez Edwards moved into No. 3 in program history with 162Â steals, passing Neil Watson.
-Tyree Griffin (17 points, assists), Cortez Edwards and Leonard Harper-Baker (both eight points, 10 rebounds) just missed on double-doubles.
-Southern Miss has won the turnover battle in 12 of 14 games this season.
-The Golden Eagles fell to 8-1 when out-shooting their opponent (40.6 to 40.4 percent against Rice).
