Dec. 3, 2010

Game Notes | Watch the Southern Miss/Ole Miss Game Live!

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss men's basketball team will play the first of six games away from Reed Green Coliseum this Saturday, December 4, when it travels to Oxford, Miss., to face in-state rival Ole Miss in a nationally-televised broadcast. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT from Tad Smith Coliseum.

The game will be televised on ESPNU, as well as ESPN3.com.

Southern Miss and Ole Miss will meet for the fourth straight year, and the 23rd time overall. The Rebels hold a 17-5 advantage. Southern Miss is looking for its first victory in Oxford, having dropped the previous eight meetings. The Golden Eagles look to avenge a last-second, 81-79 defeat in Oxford last year.

Southern Miss enters 5aturday night's game with a 4-0 record after defeating Alcorn State, 100-71, Saturday night. The victory marks the 13th straight non-conference home win for the Eagles.

Southern Miss was led by senior Gary Flowers with a career-high 31 points and nine rebounds. He is the first Golden Eagle to record 30-plus points since Courtney Beasley scored 30 at UTEP in 2009.

Seniors R.L. Horton and Josimar Ayarza scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ayarza also grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman D.J. Newbill was one rebound shy of his third straight double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down nine boards. Junior Angelo Johnson scored nine points and had eight assists, while junior Maurice Bolden had seven points and seven rebounds.

Flowers currently leads Conference USA with 21.0 points and 2.3 blocks. He is also pulling down 6.8 rebounds and connecting on 50.8-percent of his shots. Horton is ninth in the league with 15.6 points. Ayarza is scoring 11.6 points per game and is second on the team with 6.8 rebounds. Newbill is averaging 11.2 points and is seventh in C-USA with 7.6 rebounds. Johnson is adding 6.4 points and is second in the league with 6.2 assists while pulling down 5.6 rebounds.

As a team, the Eagles are second in Conference USA scoring (84.4 ppg) scoring defense (56.6). Southern Miss is connecting on 46.8-percent of its shots, while allowing its opposition to hit just 31.8-percent, tops in C-USA. The Black and Gold are also leading the league with 49.6 rebounds and 17.4 assists per game, and are averaging 5.8 blocks a game, good for second in the Conference USA.

Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his seventh season at the helm of the Southern Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled a 100-94 (.515) record during his time as head coach. In 19 years, Eustachy has an overall record of 360-239 (.601).

Ole Miss comes into tonight's game looking looking to get back into the win column. The Rebels are 3-2 after dropping an 86-73 decision at Miami (Fla.) last Tuesday.

Senior guard Chris Warren led the Rebels with 23 points, including 18 in the second half. Senior guard Zach Graham scored 19 points, and junior forward Terrance Henry added eight points and a team-high five rebounds.

Ole Miss has four players averaging double-digit points. Warren is fourth in the SEC with 18.0 points and is sixth in assists with 4.2. Graham is second on the team with 14.6 points. Sophomore guard Nick Williams is dropping in 12.8 points, while junior guard Trevor Gaskins is adding 10.2 points. Henry is leading UM in rebounds, pulling down 5.4 boards.

As a team, Ole Miss is scoring 74.6 points while 71.2 points. The Rebels are shooting 44.5-percent from the floor while its opposition is hitting 41.3-percent of its shots. From behind the arc, UM is hitting just 31.6-percent of its shots, while their opposition is dropping in 38.2-percent. Ole Miss is leading the SEC in free throw percentage, connecting on 76.1-percent from the line, but are getting outrebounded, 34.8-35.8.

Head coach Andy Kennedy is in his fifth season at the helm of the Ole Miss men's basketball program. He has compiled an 88-52 (.629) record during his tenure as head coach. In six seasons overall, Kennedy is 109-65 (.626).