Tulane University
Southern Miss
Spann Leads Tulane to Second Straight Win
Feb 7, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sophomore Brandon Spann (New Orleans, La.) scored a career-high 31 points, including 16 from the free throw line, to lead Tulane University to its second straight win, an 80-69 upset of Southern Mississippi in Conference USA men's basketball action on Wednesday evening at the New Orleans Arena.
Spann's 31-point effort was the most by a Tulane player since Jan. 16, 1997 when Jerald Honeycutt scored 37 points against Xavier (Ohio). The sophomore buried his first 15 shots from the foul line before missing.
"Brandon played great," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "He showed great floor leadership. Brandon did a great job down the stretch. He worked hard to get in position to get the ball and we want him to have the ball in that situation. The free throw line was important tonight."
The win was the second in a row over a league frontrunner for the Green Wave. Tulane (9-13, 2-7 C-USA) had defeated first place South Florida on Saturday. Southern Miss drops to 16-6 and 6-4 with the loss. South Florida and Southern Miss combined for 30 wins prior to their contests with the Wave.
"We've practiced harder in the last week than we have in a while and it's starting to show," Finney continued. "We're not getting as tired. Our endurance is up. Our guys are starting to play with confidence. You can see, even Ivan is looking more comfortable out there. Looking like he knows he can play at this level. Justin Amick, I can't say enough about him and what he gives us. The guys are starting to come together. They're starting to have confidence in the bench."
In addition to Spann's big night, senior Ledaryl Billingsley (Chicago, Ill.) added 20 points, freshman Wayne Tinsley (Fontana, Calif.) had 11 and junior Linton Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) corralled a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Wave trailed 34-32 at the break, but opened the second half with five different players scoring in a 14-7 run to take a 46-39 lead. The Wave held steady with a 52-46 lead with 10:08 to go, but then Tulane went cold. The Wave went 4:30 without scoring, but defense was impressive, holding the Golden Eagles to just six points in that same stretch. However, the was enough for Southern Miss to tie the game at 52 with 6:05 to go.
But then Spann took charge. The 6-0 guard nailed a long three from straightaway and then connect from the left side while being fouled from downtown. The ensuing free throw gave him a four-point play and Tulane a 59-52 lead with 5:17 remaining.
With Southern Miss reeling, Tinsley took the ball hard to the hoop for a layup and a three-point play and the Wave was ahead by 11 at 64-53 with 3:14 to go.
In the final 2:45, Tulane connected on 14-of-20 free throws, including 9-of-10 from Spann, to clinch the victory.
Southern Miss was led by Elvin Mimms, who scored 16 points. After shooting 55.6 percent in the first half, the Golden Eagles dropped to 32.3 percent in the second half as Tulane's defense tightened. The Wave forced 20 turnovers while committing just nine, more than half-below their season average. The Wave shot 43.6 percent from the floor in the game, but a respectable 48.1 percent in the decisive second half. Tulane also outscored the Golden Eagles, 29-11, from the line. Southern Miss held a 41-36 edge on the glass. Southern Miss entered the game allowing just 60.4 points per game, among the top 10 in the nation.
"The real key (to scoring 80 points on one of the top scoring defensive teams in the country) was they started fouling us with three minutes left in the game," Finney said. "The press got us going. The defense (from the South Florida game) carried over. Now we've got to take this same intensity and try and match that at Memphis."
The Green Wave plays at the University of Memphis on Saturday evening, but will return to the New Orleans Arena next Wednesday night, hosting Conference USA foe Charlotte at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling 504-961-WAVE.
