ASU seeks another victory over USM
By Kevin Turbeville
Sun sports editor
Dickey Nutt cringed at the suggestion that Arkansas State has had Southern Mississippi?s number lately.
?Oh man, don?t say that,? said Nutt, the Indians? ninth-year head coach. ?I?m sure they?re going to be out for some revenge.?
ASU has beaten USM in three of the last four meetings and seven of the last 10 going into this afternoon?s game, which tips off at 2:05 in the Convocation Center. The Indians knocked off the Golden Eagles in each of the last two seasons.
A senior-dominated ASU team routed USM 85-61 two years ago at the Convocation Center. Last season, in one of their best performances, the Indians stunned the Golden Eagles 64-48 in Hattiesburg.
?It helps a lot knowing that we?ve won three of the last four games,? senior forward Kim Adams said. ?But that?s in the past. This is a new year.?
The new season finds both teams off to a solid start.
ASU (5-1) has a road victory over Ole Miss to its credit. The Indians? only loss came against undefeated Toledo, which rallied from 16 points down to win by a point.
USM (4-1) is coming off a tournament championship in the Brothers Air/Heat Shootout at Rock Hill, S.C. Five Golden Eagles scored in double figures during an 81-61 victory over Samford in the championship game.
What worries Nutt most is the Golden Eagles? overall size.
?Southern Miss brings a huge, huge challenge to us because they?re so big and so strong,? Nutt said as he looked over a USM roster. ?They?re 6-9, 6-9, 6-8, 6-5 and 6-3 with their starters. We?ve got our hands full.?
The Golden Eagles? front line features 6-9, 223-pound senior center Charles Gaines, who averages 15.8 points and 11 rebounds. Gaines was voted MVP of last weekend?s tournament after recording 34 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots against Hampton and Samford.
Jasper Johnson, a 6-8, 281-pound sophomore forward, averages 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. USM also starts 6-9, 211-pound senior forward Greg Johnson.
ASU is out-rebounding opponents by roughly five per game, but the Indians haven?t faced a front line as big as USM?s front line.
?The thing that concerns me most is their inside game and the rebounding war. We?ve got to be competitive and win the rebounding war,? Nutt said. ?We?ve got to hold our own rebounding the basketball. We can?t allow them to reach over us. We?ve got to do a great job of blocking out and hopefully all the hard work we?ve put in this week will carry over.?
USM?s only loss was a 94-54 setback at Murray State, which has also beaten TCU and Western Kentucky in a 6-0 start. The Golden Eagles opened the season with victories over Alcorn State and Texas Southern.
ASU has won two in a row since losing to Toledo, beating Sam Houston State 106-87 and Liberty 64-63. Senior guard Tevoris Thompson made a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining for the margin of victory at Liberty.
While not wanting to take any credit from the Flames, who bounced back to beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 85-69 Thursday, Nutt didn?t think the Indians played well Monday.
?The thing we had to do this week was break down everything defensively,? Nutt said. ?We literally went back to day one defensively and tried to get back to fundamentals.
?There was a group of games there where we didn?t have a lot of practice time and we got away from our fundamentals. I thought it really showed in the last 10 minutes of the Sam Houston game and probably the entire game against Liberty.?
Offense hasn?t been a problem for the Indians, who are averaging 82 points per game.
Junior guard J.J. Montgomery is averaging 21 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Montgomery has been held out of most drills after suffering a concussion Monday, but is expected to be ready today.
Junior guard Dewarick Spencer averages 20.3 points and Thompson averages 16.5 off the bench. Adams has been ASU?s best player in the paint, averaging 10.2 points and 10.3 rebounds.
?Offensively we?re doing a pretty good job. We?re scoring points, we?re executing pretty good,? Nutt said. ?But defensively, we?re gambling too much. We?re trying for that home run, that steal, and it?s really hurting us in the long run. Rebounding the basketball, we didn?t rebound very well at Liberty.?
Adams draws the initial defensive assignment on Gaines, who led the Golden Eagles in scoring and rebounding last season. Montgomery will be giving up three inches and roughly 80 pounds against Johnson.
?Coach has stressed defensive intensity,? Adams said. ?It?s got to be much higher than it was in the previous game. They?ve got a lot of big guys who can bang inside and rebound.?
NOTES: Senior point guard Antonio Rambo is still sidelined by a stress fracture. Nutt hopes Rambo will be able to return after another week to 10 days. ... Sophomore guard Lorenzo Hampton should be cleared to practice early next week, Nutt said. Hampton has been sitting out to establish eligibility. ... ASU hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff next Wednesday. After playing UAPB, the Indians won?t have another home game until Jan. 7.
By Kevin Turbeville
Sun sports editor
Dickey Nutt cringed at the suggestion that Arkansas State has had Southern Mississippi?s number lately.
?Oh man, don?t say that,? said Nutt, the Indians? ninth-year head coach. ?I?m sure they?re going to be out for some revenge.?
ASU has beaten USM in three of the last four meetings and seven of the last 10 going into this afternoon?s game, which tips off at 2:05 in the Convocation Center. The Indians knocked off the Golden Eagles in each of the last two seasons.
A senior-dominated ASU team routed USM 85-61 two years ago at the Convocation Center. Last season, in one of their best performances, the Indians stunned the Golden Eagles 64-48 in Hattiesburg.
?It helps a lot knowing that we?ve won three of the last four games,? senior forward Kim Adams said. ?But that?s in the past. This is a new year.?
The new season finds both teams off to a solid start.
ASU (5-1) has a road victory over Ole Miss to its credit. The Indians? only loss came against undefeated Toledo, which rallied from 16 points down to win by a point.
USM (4-1) is coming off a tournament championship in the Brothers Air/Heat Shootout at Rock Hill, S.C. Five Golden Eagles scored in double figures during an 81-61 victory over Samford in the championship game.
What worries Nutt most is the Golden Eagles? overall size.
?Southern Miss brings a huge, huge challenge to us because they?re so big and so strong,? Nutt said as he looked over a USM roster. ?They?re 6-9, 6-9, 6-8, 6-5 and 6-3 with their starters. We?ve got our hands full.?
The Golden Eagles? front line features 6-9, 223-pound senior center Charles Gaines, who averages 15.8 points and 11 rebounds. Gaines was voted MVP of last weekend?s tournament after recording 34 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots against Hampton and Samford.
Jasper Johnson, a 6-8, 281-pound sophomore forward, averages 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. USM also starts 6-9, 211-pound senior forward Greg Johnson.
ASU is out-rebounding opponents by roughly five per game, but the Indians haven?t faced a front line as big as USM?s front line.
?The thing that concerns me most is their inside game and the rebounding war. We?ve got to be competitive and win the rebounding war,? Nutt said. ?We?ve got to hold our own rebounding the basketball. We can?t allow them to reach over us. We?ve got to do a great job of blocking out and hopefully all the hard work we?ve put in this week will carry over.?
USM?s only loss was a 94-54 setback at Murray State, which has also beaten TCU and Western Kentucky in a 6-0 start. The Golden Eagles opened the season with victories over Alcorn State and Texas Southern.
ASU has won two in a row since losing to Toledo, beating Sam Houston State 106-87 and Liberty 64-63. Senior guard Tevoris Thompson made a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining for the margin of victory at Liberty.
While not wanting to take any credit from the Flames, who bounced back to beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 85-69 Thursday, Nutt didn?t think the Indians played well Monday.
?The thing we had to do this week was break down everything defensively,? Nutt said. ?We literally went back to day one defensively and tried to get back to fundamentals.
?There was a group of games there where we didn?t have a lot of practice time and we got away from our fundamentals. I thought it really showed in the last 10 minutes of the Sam Houston game and probably the entire game against Liberty.?
Offense hasn?t been a problem for the Indians, who are averaging 82 points per game.
Junior guard J.J. Montgomery is averaging 21 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Montgomery has been held out of most drills after suffering a concussion Monday, but is expected to be ready today.
Junior guard Dewarick Spencer averages 20.3 points and Thompson averages 16.5 off the bench. Adams has been ASU?s best player in the paint, averaging 10.2 points and 10.3 rebounds.
?Offensively we?re doing a pretty good job. We?re scoring points, we?re executing pretty good,? Nutt said. ?But defensively, we?re gambling too much. We?re trying for that home run, that steal, and it?s really hurting us in the long run. Rebounding the basketball, we didn?t rebound very well at Liberty.?
Adams draws the initial defensive assignment on Gaines, who led the Golden Eagles in scoring and rebounding last season. Montgomery will be giving up three inches and roughly 80 pounds against Johnson.
?Coach has stressed defensive intensity,? Adams said. ?It?s got to be much higher than it was in the previous game. They?ve got a lot of big guys who can bang inside and rebound.?
NOTES: Senior point guard Antonio Rambo is still sidelined by a stress fracture. Nutt hopes Rambo will be able to return after another week to 10 days. ... Sophomore guard Lorenzo Hampton should be cleared to practice early next week, Nutt said. Hampton has been sitting out to establish eligibility. ... ASU hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff next Wednesday. After playing UAPB, the Indians won?t have another home game until Jan. 7.
