HOUSTON – 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) concludes its six-game road marathon Saturday at North Texas. Tipoff on ESPN Plus is set for 5 p.m.
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 162 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).
Lady Eagles fall to Rice
The Southern Miss women fell in its first game in conference play, 58-47 to Rice on Thursday night in Reed Green Coliseum.
Camille Anderson led the way for the Lady Eagles, now 8-6 and 0-1 in Conference USA, scoring 11 points on the night with two assists and four rebounds. A fast start by Rice produced only six points in the first quarter for the Lady Eagles, but got back on track with 20 in the second. It seemed the veterans of the team couldn’t find their shot or get into the rhythm. In the first quarter, Megan Brown had five rebounds, finishing the half with six. Despite her effort on the boards, she couldn’t get a shot to drop, and finished the night 0-6 from the field. It was an off night for veteran Shonte Hailes as well, who finished 1-for-7.
Despite things not going right for her returners, head coach Joye Lee-McNelis praised her team for accomplishing the three goals they had set for the matchup against Rice. “Our turnovers…we wanted to keep our turnovers to 12 and we did that. We talked about limiting their offensive rebounds to less than 10, we had them at nine. We wanted to hold Erica Ogwumike to six points below her average and we did, she only had eight.”
The newcomers of the team made their mark on the game with Camille Anderson and Kelsey Jones. “On the individual Camille Anderson played very well for us tonight, I think we saw some spots with Kelsey Jones. Two newcomers that stepped up and made some big plays for us. Allie Kennedy had some great shots in the first half, and Daishai Almond played well for us. “Our bench came in and made a difference,” said McNelis, and that they did. The Lady Eagles had 35 bench points when it was all said and done, compared to just five from the Owls. “Our bench gave us the surge we needed. The effort was there, but the production wasn’t from our starters. Collectively, the team accomplished the goals we had set ourselves on before the game. I thought we played with a tremendous amount of energy.”
Up Next
The Lady Eagles welcome the Mean Green of North Texas to Reed Green Coliseum on Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. tipoff. The Mean Green starts conference play 1-0, defeating Louisiana Tech 65-54 on Thursday night.
