Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Conference USA (25-9, 12-4)
Purchase Southern Miss Merchandise
Coach Donnie Tyndall stepped into a tough situation at Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles had a lot of turnover on the roster heading into the 2012-2013 campaign and the expectations were quite low. However, Coach Tyndall pulled together some new faces and turned this group into a contender in Conference USA.
Big Wins: 11/15 at Georgia (62-60), 11/27 Denver (61-50), 2/16 at East Carolina (86-82),
Bad Losses: 12/01 at New Mexico State (60-68), 2/06 at UCF (58-60), 3/05 at Marshall (84-88)
Coach: Donnie Tyndall (1 season at Southern Miss)
Why They Can Surprise:
Southern Miss can go ten deep on any given night. That is a huge surprise considering heading into the year many wondered if the Golden Eagles had five players that deserved to start. That depth allows Coach Tyndall to play great pressure defense. Every player on the team is a threat to nab a steal or two and Southern Miss is among the nation’s leaders when it comes to creating turnovers. Point guard Neil Watson is the catalyst on both ends of the floor. Watson has done a great job getting all of his teammates involved offensively and that is a big reason why Southern Miss has been one of the more pleasant surprises in all of college basketball. Dwayne Davis, Jerrold Brooks and Michael Craig have been the most consistent scorers on the team. Davis can score in a variety of ways and will use his 6-5 frame to help out on the glass. Brooks has not been as consistent from long range as Davis or Watson, but he does give Southern Miss another outside shooting threat.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The Golden Eagles do not have much size to work with and that can be a big problem when they fail to dictate tempo. Daveon Boardingham, at 6-7 and 225 pounds, is the biggest player who sees any significant playing time. Jonathan Mills has some girth at 6-5 and 240 pounds, as does freshman Norville Carey. Despite the lack of size, the Golden Eagles work extremely hard on the glass and they can hang right in there with just about anybody when it comes to rebounding. Yet, defending those big men is another story. The other issue is turnovers. Southern Miss will almost always win the turnover battle, but they will commit quite a few as well. That happens when a team wants to get up and down the floor, but the margin for error will be thin in March.
Probable Starters:
Neil Watson, Junior, Guard, 9.9 ppg, 4.9 apg
Jerrold Brooks, Junior, Guard, 10.6 ppg, 2.3 apg
Dwayne Davis, Junior, Guard, 16.4 ppg, 2.5 apg, 4.3 rpg
Jonathan Mills, Senior, Forward, 9.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg
Daveon Boardingham, Junior, Forward, 8.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Norville Carey, Freshman, Forward, 4.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg
Michael Craig, Junior, Guard, 9.0 ppg, 2.2 apg, 5.1 rpg
Deon Edwin, Freshman, Guard, 1.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg
Cedric Jenkins, Junior, Guard, 4.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg
Rashard McGill, Senior, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.7 (40th in nation, 4th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 62.0 (58, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 48.0 (12, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.4 (67, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.8 (108, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.7 (20, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.9 (156, 7)
Rebound Margin: 6.3 (23, 1)
Assists Per Game: 15.1 (33, 4)
Turnovers Per Game: 15.2 (301, 10)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
2012 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Kansas State
2010 CIT First Round loss to Louisiana Tech
2001 NIT First Round loss to Mississippi State
1998 NIT First Round loss to Auburn
1995 NIT First Round loss to St. Bonaventure
*all team stats through 3/10
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
