Tulane University
Southern Mississippi
Tulane Defense Holds Off Southern Miss
Mar 1, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2006
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane held Southern Miss without a field goal for the final 8:22 of its Conference USA men's basketball game on Wednesday evening as the Green Wave came from behind for a 50-47 victory at Fogelman Arena.
While senior Quincy Davis celebrated Senior Day by scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds, it was junior Andrew Garcia who sparked the comeback in the second half. Garcia had four second-half steals, buried the go-ahead three-pointer with 4:34 to go and added the game-clinching free throws with 15.9 seconds remaining.
Tulane (11-15, 6-7 C-USA) fell behind by eight at 43-35 with 8:22 to go after Southern Miss (8-20, 2-11) buried four straight three-pointers. However, at that point, the Wave dug in and shut down the Golden Eagle offense. Tulane harassed Southern Miss into missing their final eight shots while turning the ball over five times in that same stretch.
"I just took a step back to see what we were made of," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "All I told them is that we have to make plays on both ends of the court; we need to trust in the system and trust in each other. I couldn't be more proud of these guys right now."
Southern Miss had multiple opportunities to even the game in the final seconds. After Courtney Beasley missed the front end of a one-and-one with 7.3 seconds to go, the ball was knocked out of bounds to the Eagles. A quick three-pointer from the corner by Kyle Lamonte was off the mark and the Wave again could not corral the carom. However, one final effort, this time Lamonte from the other corner was also off the mark.
After Southern Miss pulled within one at 48-47 with 20.3 seconds to go, Garcia was fouled in the backcourt. The junior walk-on capped his outstanding performance by swishing both foul shots with 15.9 clicks remaining.
"Drew Garcia is a special player," Dickerson said. "He knew we needed him to step up. Ryan Williams was struggling to get into a rhythm and Drew came in and played smart and tough. He does not have a lot of abilities, but he goes out and gets the job done."
After the Eagles built the advantage to eight, the Wave found Davis inside for an old-fashioned three-point play. Then Chris Moore hit a long three before Garcia spotted up from the corner for the go-ahead bucket at the 4:34 mark. Another bucket from Davis at 3:52 pushed the Wave advantage to three, but then both teams went into offensive funks. Tulane turned it over twice and Southern Miss missed two shots and had a turnover before Moore was fouled. The junior nailed both foul shots with 1:36 on the clock to cap a 13-0 Tulane run with Tulane on top 48-43.
With 1:11 to go, Southern Miss cracked the scoring column again with a pair of free throws from Lamonte, who had a career-high 19 points off the bench. Two more Lamonte foul shots with 20.3 seconds on the clock made it a one-point game, but Garcia's free throws provided the final margin.
"This time of year, you don't look at how you win, because it is so hard to get wins," Dickerson said. "It's March madness. Instead of looking at the negative things from the game, I just look at the win. I am proud of our toughness and proud over how mature we were. We kept our composure and we made plays at both ends. A month and a half ago, we don't win this game."
Tulane shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from the floor, but turned the ball over 18 times, the majority in the effort to get the ball to Davis in the paint. The Green Wave controlled the paint, outscoring the Golden Eagles, 32-10, inside. The Wave held Southern Miss to just 34.8 percent (16-of-46) shooting. The Golden Eagles hit seven of their first 11 three-point attempts before missing their final seven from long-range. It was the 10th time this season that Tulane held its opponent below 60 points.
Tulane and Southern Miss have now met 24 times on the hardwood in Conference USA play - and the series is tied at 12 apiece. Thirteen of the league games between these two teams have now been decided by seven or fewer points, including a pair of overtime contests.
In the first half, the Wave built the lead to as many as 11 before Southern Miss rallied. The Golden Knights closed the half with an 18-8 run, holding Tulane to just one basket in the final 4:39.
Tulane closes the 2005-06 regular season on the road at Tulsa on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Wave then travels to Memphis for the Conference USA Tournament which begins next Wednesday.
