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Smith And Gaines Combine for 34 Points To Lead Cougars To A 68-60 Victory At Southern Miss
Feb 5, 2002
Hattiesburg, Miss.- Using a stifling defense in the first half and some timely shooting on the offensive end in the second half, the University of Houston defeated Southern Mississippi, 68-60, in Hattiesburg, Miss.
"We wanted to come out and control the tempo and our guards did an excellent job controlling the pace," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said.
The Cougars certainly controlled the game on the defensive end early as Houston held the Golden Eagles to three points in the first eight minutes of the game and held the Golden Eagles to just 32 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
Houston's backcourt of Kevin Gaines and Dominic Smith combined to score 14 points in the first half to lead the Cougars to a 27-23 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Southern Miss came charging out of the gates early to get back in the game. First Elvin Mims hit a three-point field goal from the top of the key. Then Mario Miles added a jumper in the lane to make the score 30-28 with 18:13 left to play.
But, Houston didn't lose their poise and that was as close as Southern Miss was able to get. "We really did a good job of keeping our poise at that point," McCallum said. "Our guards (Gaines and Smith) scored some big points and we were able to keep them at bay."
On Houston's next two possessions, George Williams hit a jumper from the right baseline and Smith scored on a jumper from the top of the key.
Then, Gaines scored the next six points in the game, including a trey and a free throw for a four-point play with 15:45 left to play. That gave Houston a 40-29 lead with 15:45 left to play.
Southern Miss came back to within seven after Houston native Dante Stiggers stole the ball from Smith and drove down the court for a lay-up to make the score, 40-33, with 14:13 left to play.
Again, Houston kept control of the game as the Cougars outscored Southern Miss 14-12 during the next eight minutes and held a 54-45 lead with 6:11 left to play.
Southern Miss made their final charge when Bernard Duncan hit two three-point field goals to pull the Golden Eagles to within 54-51 with 4:40 remaining in the game.
That's when Smith took over down the stretch for the Cougars. First, he hit a running jumper in the lane. George Williams made two of his four free throws and Louis Truscott added two more free throws to make the score 61-55 with 1:26 left to play.
Smith sealed the victory by making six more free throws in the final 34 seconds to make the final score 68-60.
Gaines ended the game with a career-high 20 points and Smith added 18 to lead the Cougars. Duncan came off the bench to lead Southern Miss, while George Williams held the Golden Eagles. leading scorer, Elvin Mims, to his second lowest point total of the season of nine points.
The victory was Houston's first victory in Hattiesburg since 1972 and marks the first time the Cougars have swept the Golden Eagles in Conference USA play.
Houston also raised its overall record to 12-10 and improved to 5-4 in Conference USA play. Southern Miss falls to 7-13 overall and 2-8 in league play.
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