University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Marshall
Men's Basketball Begins C-USA Tourney Play on Thursday
3/13/2019 4:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tournament Central
Thursday Watch Link
FRISCO, Texas -- The most exciting time of the college basketball season is finally here, and the Southern Miss men's basketball team is ready to take on the challenge. The No. 3-seeded Golden Eagles will battle either No. 6 Marshall or No. 11 Rice in the quarterfinals, Thursday at 9 p.m. CT.
The game will air on Stadium via Facebook Live, featuring Chris Hassel, Tim Scarborough and Kristen Balboni on the call. Fans can also catch the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, on the Southern Miss IMG Learfield College network (Rock 104.5 in Hattiesburg/Laurel) and the USM Gameday app.
The Herd and Owls will face each other at 9 p.m. CT Wednesday night.
– Southern Miss defied the odds all year long and finished its regular-season with an 81-48 win over UTSA, totaling 16 three-pointers (most-ever against a Division I team in school history) and holding the potent Roadrunners (79.5 ppg in league play) to their fewest points in 80 games. All five seniors earned the starting nod, with Dominic Magee scoring a game- and season-high 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting. The Golden Eagles also extended their halftime-lead streak to 10 games.
– The Golden Eagles are just the third team (UTEP, 2017 and Marshall, 2010) in the last decade to earn a bye in the 12-team, C-USA Tournament despite an 0-3 start in league play. The squad self-imposed postseason bans for each of Doc Sadler's first two seasons and will not be at full scholarships until after the 2019-20 season.
– Rebounding became the story for the Golden Eagles in their 59-52 win at ODU. After falling 45-32 in that category the previous meeting (including 23 offensive boards), the team showed relentless pursuit in winning the battle, 40-37. The squad also had 47 rebounds against UTSA, its most against a Division I team since Feb. 25, 2017 at North Texas. Last year's team was out-rebounded by an average of 7.6 per game in regular-season conference play, and this year's team has closed the gap to minus-0.5.
– The two-headed monster of Cortez Edwards and Tyree Griffin have combined for 27.3 points, 10.6 assists, 9.9 rebounds this season. In the past two years, they have combined for four of the top-five steals seasons in program history. Griffin's 415 career assists in two years puts him No. 3 all-time at the school and owning two of the top-three dime years in school history (more info on all school records: page 8).
– Edwards is averaging 25.8 ppg in his four C-USA Championship games and earned All-Tournament honors last season, scoring 29 against FIU, 23 versus Middle Tennessee and a career-high 30 against Marshall. He is the only player in Southern Miss history to rank in the top-20 for scoring (1,375 points), top-15 for rebounds (624) and top-10 for assists (360), all while having a school-record 197 steals.
– Kevin Holland was named to the C-USA's All-Academic team. His 105 starts (all consecutive) rank seventh in program history. He is No. 1 in C-USA play for three-point percentage (51.9 percent), and his 133 career makes are also eighth all-time at the school. LaDavius Draine now has 69 made three-pointers, which is No. 9 in single-season school history. He is second in C-USA play with a 48.6 percent clip. He has 26 more three-pointers than any other sophomore in program history, and his 46.6 percentage currently bests Casey Fisher (46.3 percent in 1987-88) for the best single-season deep clip at the school.
– Leonard Harper-Baker was shooting 41.9 percent (18-for-43) at the foul line before going 8-for-12 in a clutch win over UAB on Jan. 12. That game begun what has now amounted to a 72.7 percent stretch (32-for-44). He matched his career-high of 15 rebounds in a win at ODU that was crucial in earning a bye after also having 14 the previous matchup in Norfolk. In C-USA play, he is third for both shooting (58.2 percent) and rebounding (8.9 per game). His 8.3 rebounds per game overall is the best average by a Golden Eagle since Gary Flowers in 2009-10.
– 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 30-game streak is its best since Dec. 28, 2006 - Jan. 16, 2008. Through Sunday, the team ranked No. 4 nationally for assist-turnover ratio (1.65) and No. 15 for fewest turnovers (10.4 pg). In league play, the Golden Eagles rank first in field goal percentage (47.8), three-point shooting (41.2) and assists (16.5) and FG defense (40.4) and while sitting third in steals (7.8).
– Griffin against C-USA opponents is first in assists (7.6), second in assist-turnover ratio (2.6) and fourth in steals (2.1), while Edwards ranks ninth in assists (4.0) and third for assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and third in steals (2.2). Through Sunday, Griffin was No. 5 nationally in assists per game. They are the only teammates to be in the top-14 for assist/turnover ratio in league play. They each earned All-Conference honors (second-team), the first honorees since Chip Armelin in 2014-15. Draine is the first Sixth-Player of the Year since Neil Watson in 2011-12.
