The University of Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Drop Rebels In Biloxi
12/30/2008 | Men's Basketball
BILOXI, Miss. David Huertas scored 23 points, but Southern Miss outscored Ole Miss 40-22 in the second half to break the game open en route to a 78-59 victory over the Rebels Tuesday night from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Southern Miss (9-4) led 38-37 at halftime, but opened the second period on a 14-0 run. Ole Miss (8-5) cut the deficit to nine with 6:12 remaining, but Courtney Beasley scored a pair of buckets and Jeremy Wise made two free throws as the Golden Eagles regained the momentum and cruised to victory.
"I thought in the first half it was a pretty competitive game," said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy. "While the game was a one or two possession game throughout the half, I thought our guys showed pretty good poise. When they hit us early in the second half, and it was initially due to offensive rebounding, I thought we panicked a little bit, and then it seemed as if we were looking for a 10-point shot."
Beasley led five Golden Eagles in double figures with 19 points to go with 10 rebounds. Wise added 17 points and Craig Craft helped with 13 points and 13 rebounds. USM played just seven players in the game.
Huertas scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half and was the lone Rebel in double figures.
Southern Miss out-rebounded Ole Miss by a 50-28 margin. It was the first USM win in the series since 1994. Ole Miss now leads the all-time series 16-5.
The Rebels return to Oxford for their final non-league game of the season on Saturday against Nicholls State. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at Tad Smith Coliseum. Ole Miss begins Southeastern Conference play on the road at Florida on Jan. 10.