Conference USA - Quarterfinals, Afternoon Session

 (6) Southern Mississippi 58, (3) UAB 44

C-USA quarterfinal numero dos brought more March Madness to the BOK Center, as Southern Miss extinguished the faint flicker of at-large-bid hope the Blazers had.  Like Wednesday's win by the Eagles, this was an unsightly contest, marred by manners of crimes against the sport of basketball.  But that's just the Golden Eagles' way.

The Big Picture: Like a massive cold sore, the Golden Eagles ugly everything up.  Playing typically intense and determined man-to-man defense, Southern Miss put the clamps down on UAB, bullying the Blazers into miserable 18-of-46 shooting from the floor.  Larry Eustachy's squad has played two games in the C-USA Tournament.  It has held opponents to less than 50 points in both.  That's as good a way to survive and advance in March as there is.   

The Good:   Southern Mississippi made a concerted effort to take the rock at the Blazers, which earned the Golden Eagles 30 free throw attempts.  More importantly, the Golden Eagles made them count, converting 25 of those freebies.  Southern Mississippi is not a team that goes weak-kneed and wobbly at the line either, as evidenced by 14-of-16 free throw shooting in the second half.  

The Bad:  Perhaps there was a problem with the wake-up call at UAB's hotel.  Or perhaps the Blazers were sleep-deprived after a long evening of partaking in Tulsa's throbbing nightlife (such as it is).  Whatever the reason, Mike Davis's squad was not ready to play when this game tipped off this afternoon.  UAB's sluggishness allowed Southern Miss to take a 32-17 halftime lead.  Given the way the Golden Eagles defend and in consideration of the pace USM imposes on opponents, the Blazers might as well as have been trailing by 30.

The Ugly:  There's almost never just one reason that a given team wins a basketball game.  It's almost a combination of factors.  While that was probably true of today's Southern Miss-UAB tilt, the Blazers were outscored 25-4 at the free throw line.  The 21-point disparity was due entirely to the Blazers managing to make only 4-of-15, or a ghastly 26.7 % of their freebies.

What’s Next

Southern Mississippi soldiers on in the C-USA tourney, earning a semifinal scrap versus Houston, another lower seed that was won two in a row.  The teams met once in the regular season, and it was a game that was played at Southern Miss's pace, which means the 57-55 Golden Eagles' victory in that scrap isn't too surprising.