Include first-year Southern Miss basketball coach Donnie Tyndall among those a bit surprised by USM?s 5-0 start.
?With the schedule we?ve had, we certainly didn?t anticipate being undefeated,? Tyndall said. ?But, on the flip side, we?re a gritty bunch of guys, and once the game is actually tipped up, we expect to win.
?That?s the mentality that our guys have had thus far.?
After beating Western Kentucky at home to open the season, USM won the next four on the road.
Even though they play Denver (1-3) today at 7 p.m. at home, where USM has won 16 in a row, Tyndall says he?s not letting anyone relax.
?It?s my job as the coach, if these guys start feeling good about themselves being 5-0, so I made sure that we had some grinding, taxing practices,? Tyndall said
And just to make sure everyone got the message, Tyndall said forward Daveon Boardingham will serve a one-game suspension because of inadequate effort in practice.
?We?ve had a little bump in the road,? Tyndall said. ?Daveon Boardingham is going to miss this next game. He?s the one guy, and we talked about it all the time, that just didn?t want to practice the right way.?
Tyndall said point guard Neil Watson is ?nearly back to 100 percent? after missing about three weeks of the preseason and the opening night win over Western Kentucky because of a deep thigh bruise.
Denver, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, has lost to Iona, California and Colorado State, coached by former USM coach Larry Eustachy. The Pioneers win came over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Pioneers defeated the NCAA-bound Golden Eagles 79-72 in Denver last season.
Chris Udofia, who scored a game-high 21 points against USM last season, averages 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
Guard Dwayne Davis leads USM in scoring, averaging 15 points. Forward Jonathan Mills was named Conference USA player of the week Monday after averaging 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds last week.
Tyndall said he expects a good crowd at Green Coliseum. ?I?ve had a lot of tweets and emails from fans, telling me they?re going to be there,? Tyndall said, ?so, we?d love to have another electric environment.?
?With the schedule we?ve had, we certainly didn?t anticipate being undefeated,? Tyndall said. ?But, on the flip side, we?re a gritty bunch of guys, and once the game is actually tipped up, we expect to win.
?That?s the mentality that our guys have had thus far.?
After beating Western Kentucky at home to open the season, USM won the next four on the road.
Even though they play Denver (1-3) today at 7 p.m. at home, where USM has won 16 in a row, Tyndall says he?s not letting anyone relax.
?It?s my job as the coach, if these guys start feeling good about themselves being 5-0, so I made sure that we had some grinding, taxing practices,? Tyndall said
And just to make sure everyone got the message, Tyndall said forward Daveon Boardingham will serve a one-game suspension because of inadequate effort in practice.
?We?ve had a little bump in the road,? Tyndall said. ?Daveon Boardingham is going to miss this next game. He?s the one guy, and we talked about it all the time, that just didn?t want to practice the right way.?
Tyndall said point guard Neil Watson is ?nearly back to 100 percent? after missing about three weeks of the preseason and the opening night win over Western Kentucky because of a deep thigh bruise.
Denver, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, has lost to Iona, California and Colorado State, coached by former USM coach Larry Eustachy. The Pioneers win came over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Pioneers defeated the NCAA-bound Golden Eagles 79-72 in Denver last season.
Chris Udofia, who scored a game-high 21 points against USM last season, averages 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
Guard Dwayne Davis leads USM in scoring, averaging 15 points. Forward Jonathan Mills was named Conference USA player of the week Monday after averaging 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds last week.
Tyndall said he expects a good crowd at Green Coliseum. ?I?ve had a lot of tweets and emails from fans, telling me they?re going to be there,? Tyndall said, ?so, we?d love to have another electric environment.?
