Memphis Falls to Southern Skip
Memphis Drops to Southern Skip
Updated: Wednesday, 01 Feb 2012, 10:44 PM CST Revealed:Wednesday, 01 Feb 2012, 10:44 PM CST
HATTIESBURG, Miss - Chris Crawford scored a career-high 23 points, but was struggling to connect on a Southern Miss defeated Memphis, 75-72 and three-point shot at the buzzer. Crawford linked on 9-of-15 (60.0 percent) field-goal attempts, including 5-of-7 (71.4 %) from three-point selection.
Memphis (15-7, 6-2 C-USA) trailed Southern Miss (20-3, 7-1 C-USA), 69-65, with under a second to play, when Will Barton selected a wayward free-throw try and drove the length of the floor. Barton sank both free throws and drew a foul.
Barton then fouled Neil Watson, who knocked down a set of photographs from the charity stripe, and the ball was immediately pressed by Joe Jackson up the court for the layin, keeping the Tigers\\\' debt at two points.
On the ensuing Southern Miss person, Antonio Barton flicked the ball from Watson and right into Jackson\\\'s fingers. Jackson attached on the first free throw, but missed the second. Both Jackson and Wesley Witherspoon missed on put-back efforts and the Tigers still trailed by a point with 22 seconds remaining. After Darnell Dodson sank two cost-free throws for USM, D.J. Stephens put down a dunk to move the U of M back within one point, 73-72 and needed a move from Jackson.
Full-court force protection by the Tigers forced a long pass by the Golden Eagles which was virtually picked off, but Dodson was there to collect the loose ball near mid-court. Dodson was hit and fouled both free throws, obtaining the remaining edge as Jackson\\\'s effort at the buzzer was off the mark.
Memphis\\\' leading scorer, Will Barton, scored 15 factors and Joe Jackson included 14. Antonio Barton was the fourth Tiger in double-digits, placing 10 points on the morning.
Despite firing 56.3 percent (27-for-48) from the floor and limiting Southern Miss to 41.1 % (23-of-56, Memphis couldn\\\'t defeat its a strong free-throw shooting efficiency by the Golden Eagles and bad rebounding effort.
Memphis was outrebounded, 36-23, resulting in 15 2nd opportunity points for Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles also related on 24-of-27 (88.9 %) of their cost-free throws, compared to 13-of-17 (76.5 %) for the Tigers.
Southern Miss clicked Memphis\\\' 18-game win streak against the Golden Eagles. It was the first time since the second activity of the 2003-04 season.
A three-pointer was nailed by Crawford at the buzzer to pull Memphis inside a place, 34-33, at the break. First-half points were tallyed 18 by The sophomore guard, on 7-for-10 (70.0 percent) firing, making him one point shy of his career-high with 20 minutes left to play.
While the Golden Eagles shot 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from the field and 2-of-7 (28.6 percent) from three-point territory the Tigers attached on 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from the ground, including 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from lengthy assortment. Southern Miss was an excellent 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and Memphis made its single effort from the line.
The Golden Eagles were paced by Dodson with 23 points on the strength of 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Watson was also excellent from the free-throw line, 8-for-8, on his solution to scoring 17 points. LaShay Page placed a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards. Memphis returns to the pleasant confines of FedExForum for its ultimate non-conference game of the year against Xavier University. Activity time is appointed for 12:00 p.m. (CT). The women\\\'s basketball team is planned to perform UCF following the men\\\'s game, with tip-off at 4:00 p.m.