Men’s basketball tries to get back on track as they travel to Southern Mississippi

David Drucker/Staff Writer

The men’s basketball team (11-12) will travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to play the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (6-16) on Thursday, Feb. 12. Both teams will be looking to move on from botched comebacks in their last games and claim a win in a late-season Conference USA matchup.

The Panthers will likely look to senior guard Dennis Mavin to lead the scorers, a feat that he has done many times this season. Mavin is tied with T.J. Price from Western Kentucky University at 17.2 points per game for lead scorer in C-USA. Junior forward Adrian Diaz has also made an impact; he is averaging 13.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game this season.

Junior forward Daviyon Draper has also come into his own lately for the Panthers. The Los Angeles native averaged 10.6 points over the Panthers’ last seven contests, including a 21-point performance in his team’s last-minute loss to University of Texas at El Paso.

Southern Miss is led in scoring by guards Chip Armelin and Matt Bingaya, who average 15.3 and 14.1 points per game, respectively.  Their team’s average of 29.2 rebounds per game is one of the worst marks around the NCAA. The Golden Eagles lost a close game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham after they were out-dueled at the free throw line.

Thursday’s game should be a close matchup, according to C-USA’s statistics. The Panthers’ offense is eleventh best in the league with an average of 62.7 points per game, while Southern Miss has the eleventh best scoring defense, allowing opponents to score 69.0 per game. The team’s records say otherwise: the Golden Eagles are riding a four-game losing streak and are 1-10 against conference opponents, while the Panthers are have been around .500 for most of the season and are 4-6 in C-USA.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET from Reed Green Coliseum.

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