Southern Miss senior guards Tyree Griffin and Cortez Edwards, arguably the top 1-2 punch in the league, received Second-Team All-Conference USA accolades on Monday afternoon. Edwards was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
The duo mark Southern Miss' first league postseason honorees since Chip Armelin in 2015. Edwards, a native of Kissimmee, Fla., broke the school's career steals record with four at first-place Old Dominion, then followed up with three more in Saturday's Senior Day blowout of UTSA. He averaged a team-high 13.7 points to go with 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game (both second on the squad). He is one of 53 players nationwide to have 10-plus field goals in three true road games (Troy, North Texas, FAU).
Edwards has further cemented his legacy by being the only player in school history to be ranked in the top-20 for scoring (1,375 points), top-15 for rebounds (624) and top-10 for assists (360). He is No. 24 nationally with 2.2 steals per game. He joins multi-year honorees Jonathan Mills (2012-13) and Sai'Quon Stone (2009-10) as Golden Eagles to earn spots on the All-Defensive team.
Griffin, a product of New Orleans who transferred from Oklahoma State his sophomore season, has been a dynamo for the Golden Eagles, ranking fifth in the country with 7.2 assists per game. He exploded for 15 in the 101-51 win over Marshall, marking the most by a C-USA player in a league game since 1998. Five of his six 20-point games this season were against C-USA teams, as were all four of his double-digit assist performances.
Edwards and Griffin each own four of the top-five single-season steals marks, spanning each of the last two years. Griffin's 214 assists this season and 201 last year rank third and second in program history, respectively.
Southern Miss (19-11, 11-7) is the No. 3 seed in the C-USA Championships and will begin play Thursday at 9 p.m. CT against either No. 6 Marshall or No. 11 Rice. The game will air on Stadium via Facebook Live.
First Team
Jon Elmore, Marshall
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
B.J. Stith, Old Dominion
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Charles Bassey, WKU
Second Team
Jon Davis, Charlotte
Brian Beard, FIU
Cortez Edwards, Southern Miss
Tyree Griffin, Southern Miss
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Third Team
Anthony Adger, Florida Atlantic
C.J. Burks, Marshall
Antonio Green, Middle Tennessee
Ryan Woolridge, North Texas
Zack Bryant, UAB
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU
All-Defensive Team
Brian Beard, FIU
Osasumwen Osaghae, FIU
Xavier Green, Old Dominion
Cortez Edwards, Southern Miss
Charles Bassey, WKU
All-Freshman Team
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Umoja Gibson, North Texas
Chris Mullins, Rice
Efe Odigie, UTEP
Charles Bassey, WKU
