University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, January 10
Reed Green Coliseum
7 p.m. CT
Southern Miss
vs
Middle Tennessee
Men's Basketball Makes Long-Awaited Return Home Thursday
1/9/2019 2:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Six games, four states and 30 days later, the Southern Miss men's basketball team is finally home again Thursday night against two-time defending regular-season Conference USA champ Middle Tennessee.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN Plus, while John Cox will also carry the game through the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and USM Gameday app.
Former head football coach Jeff Bower (1990-2007) will be honored during the game for his three years of service on the College Football Playoff Committee.
–    This is the longest stretch away from Hattiesburg since a seven-game span in the 1997-98 season (31 days). The 1978-79 team also went 38 days between home contests.
–    The Golden Eagles are coming off a heartbreaking 65-62 loss at North Texas, which was receiving votes for its one-loss record. The Mean Green took the lead with 15 seconds left on their only FG of the last 5:35. Cortez Edwards' 24 points (11-for-17) marked his 11th-career, 20-point game. The Golden Eagles were 5-for-11 on three-point shooting, led by LaDavius Draine's 4-for-8 clip. It was the fewest deep attempts in the five-year Doc Sadler tenure since his first season.
–    Draine is shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc this season, which ranks No. 4 in C-USA. Nine of the sophomore's 12 double-figure scoring games have come away from home, and another group of those nine have come against C-USA foes. Since last season, he has improved his 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 45.6, his scoring from 5.5 to 9.3 ppg, and he has committed just three turnovers in 304 minutes. Draine's 85 percent free-throw shooting (17-for-20) also leads the team.
–    Middle Tennessee returns none of its starters from last year. Antonio Green, who sat out last season after transferring from UTRGV, has been its runaway MVP. He is averaging 19.3 ppg while connecting on 45 of the team's 74 three-pointers and leading the team in free-throw makes and percentage (42-for-48 / 87.5 percent).
–    Southern Miss was 1-7 all-time against Middle Tennessee before upsetting the No. 1 Blue Raiders in the Conference USA Quarterfinals last season. Edwards, who would earn All-Tourney honors for his 27.3 ppg, scored a game-high 23 in the overtime victory on 5-for-6 long-range shooting. His only other game of four or more makes was at Troy on Nov. 15, when he also became the 37th member of the school's 1,000-point club (more info on his career on page 8).
–    Southern Miss and Old Dominion are the only two C-USA schools to have not allowed 80 points in a single 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 39.6 percent shooting clip this season after it was 46.1 last season and have not allowed more than 40 points in a half since Nov. 20 versus North Florida.
–    Southern Miss is No. 3 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.75) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.8 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). SMU is the only team to have won the turnover battle over the Golden Eagles this year.
–    The Golden Eagles currently rank first in C-USA for assists (16.4) and assist-turnover ratio (1.67), while second in defensive field goal percentage (39.6). Tyree Griffin leads the league in assists (6.5) and is second in steals (2.2) and assist-turnover ratio (3.3), while Edwards ranks third in steals (2.1 pg). Griffin has 298 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
–    Griffin's seven steals at North Texas tied for the third-most in school history and the highest total against a Division I opponent since Jason Forte on March 1, 2006 versus Tulane.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN Plus, while John Cox will also carry the game through the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and USM Gameday app.
Former head football coach Jeff Bower (1990-2007) will be honored during the game for his three years of service on the College Football Playoff Committee.
–    This is the longest stretch away from Hattiesburg since a seven-game span in the 1997-98 season (31 days). The 1978-79 team also went 38 days between home contests.
–    The Golden Eagles are coming off a heartbreaking 65-62 loss at North Texas, which was receiving votes for its one-loss record. The Mean Green took the lead with 15 seconds left on their only FG of the last 5:35. Cortez Edwards' 24 points (11-for-17) marked his 11th-career, 20-point game. The Golden Eagles were 5-for-11 on three-point shooting, led by LaDavius Draine's 4-for-8 clip. It was the fewest deep attempts in the five-year Doc Sadler tenure since his first season.
–    Draine is shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc this season, which ranks No. 4 in C-USA. Nine of the sophomore's 12 double-figure scoring games have come away from home, and another group of those nine have come against C-USA foes. Since last season, he has improved his 3FG percentage from 40.0 to 45.6, his scoring from 5.5 to 9.3 ppg, and he has committed just three turnovers in 304 minutes. Draine's 85 percent free-throw shooting (17-for-20) also leads the team.
–    Middle Tennessee returns none of its starters from last year. Antonio Green, who sat out last season after transferring from UTRGV, has been its runaway MVP. He is averaging 19.3 ppg while connecting on 45 of the team's 74 three-pointers and leading the team in free-throw makes and percentage (42-for-48 / 87.5 percent).
–    Southern Miss was 1-7 all-time against Middle Tennessee before upsetting the No. 1 Blue Raiders in the Conference USA Quarterfinals last season. Edwards, who would earn All-Tourney honors for his 27.3 ppg, scored a game-high 23 in the overtime victory on 5-for-6 long-range shooting. His only other game of four or more makes was at Troy on Nov. 15, when he also became the 37th member of the school's 1,000-point club (more info on his career on page 8).
–    Southern Miss and Old Dominion are the only two C-USA schools to have not allowed 80 points in a single 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 39.6 percent shooting clip this season after it was 46.1 last season and have not allowed more than 40 points in a half since Nov. 20 versus North Florida.
–    Southern Miss is No. 3 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.75) and No. 6 for fewest turnovers (9.8 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). SMU is the only team to have won the turnover battle over the Golden Eagles this year.
–    The Golden Eagles currently rank first in C-USA for assists (16.4) and assist-turnover ratio (1.67), while second in defensive field goal percentage (39.6). Tyree Griffin leads the league in assists (6.5) and is second in steals (2.2) and assist-turnover ratio (3.3), while Edwards ranks third in steals (2.1 pg). Griffin has 298 dimes in less than two years with the program, with his 201 last season ranking as the second-most in school history.
–    Griffin's seven steals at North Texas tied for the third-most in school history and the highest total against a Division I opponent since Jason Forte on March 1, 2006 versus Tulane.
Players Mentioned
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