Indians clip Golden Eagles' wings 85-61

Men's basketball improves to 6-1 by shooting 50 percent against So. Miss

By Dustin Dearman, Herald Staff

It seems that winning is a little easier for the Indians when they play at home.

Arkansas State (6-1) had Southern Mississippi (2-3) on their heels all night as the Tribe cruised to a 85-61 victory in front of a season-high 5,187 fans at the Convocation Center, Saturday.

ASU guard Nick Rivers owned the scoreboard in the first half tallying 18 points on 7-10 shooting including 3-6 from behind the arc. The 6-1 senior from Memphis, Tenn. began the game hot scoring six of the Tribe's first eight points. Rivers finished the night shooting 50 percent with a game-high 24 points.

"I feel like I am the spark plug. If I start off hitting my shots, going to the hole, passing the ball, then it just gets everybody involved," Rivers said. "When I'm having fun it seems like everybody else is having fun."

Indian head coach Dickey Nutt had his club on overdrive coming out of the locker room. They went on a 15-2 run to start the game and Southern Mississippi didn't convert an attempt from the field until 13:48 remaining in the half.

"I thought our intensity level was a far cry from the other night. I am very proud to see that. I just can't say enough about our performance defensively," Nutt said.

That defensive effort showed as the Tribe forced So. Miss into 20 turnovers. Indian senior center Jason Jennings helped on the defensive end by not just contesting every shot but by swatting down seven Golden Eagle attempts.

"Coming out I just wanted to do whatever I could," Jennings said. "I think I started out pretty sluggish on the offensive end and I had on my mind I just wanted to do anything to help the team. So, I just started to play a little "D" and get some blocks."

Jennings finished the night with 15 points and five rebounds.

With the win, ASU avenged a 76-71 defeat last season against So. Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss.

In that loss, Rivers went 2-12 from the field for only five points.

The Tribe were also reeling after a last second defeat to Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, 79-77.

"After a loss, we had to come out harder. Because we came out with no intensity in that Mississippi Valley State game. We just stuck together and decided we had to come out harder," Rivers said.

So. Miss is a team known for their defense. In their four games prior to Saturday, the Golden Eagles did not allow a team to score over 66 points.

They are also holding opponents to .406 percent from the floor. The Indians broke both trends Saturday by shooting exactly .500 percent from the field.

"I thought we did a great job of creating our own," Nutt said. "For two days we really hammered and really talked about their defense and they are a super defensive team in a lot of areas."

Junior point guard Odie Williams is settling right in at the point position. Williams was very effective, giving up only one turnover and creating opportunites with four assists. He also was third on the teamin scoring with 13 points while shooting .500 percent from the floor.

"Super job. You can't say enough about Odie. The leadership, the quality, the words that come out of his mouth to his teammates are critical," Nutt said.

Guard Tony Brown quietly made his contribution to the Indian squad. Brown finished the night with 11 points hitting 4-6 from the floor along with draining all three of his foul shots. He also bruised the boards with a game-high nine rebounds in his 29 minutes of play.

Senior forward Kolin Weaver continues to struggle in his last year at ASU.

Weaver went 2-5 shooting with only five points and four rebounds. Weaver also had five points in the Tribe's loss to MVSU.

Golden Eagle head coach James Green was not pleased with his teams performance and effort at the Convocation Center.

"We are a team that we don't know who we are or who we can be. We are completely lost. If start talking about all of the things that we didn't do then it takes away from what (ASU) was able to do," Green said.

"We were bad."

Golden Eagle senior forward Elvin Mims was USM's sole player in double figures with 24.

The Indians return to the road this week as they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on the Air Force Academy on Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. Air Force is led by Joel Gerlach who is shooting a remarkable .733 percent from the floor and is averaging 18 points a contest.

This will be the third meeting between the two schools with Air Force winning back in 1968, 76-58. The head-to-head series is tied at one win apiece.

The Falcons (3-3) are coming off a 68-52 loss to No. 24 Fresno State on Saturday.

Then on Saturday Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. the Tribe will be hosted by Southeastern Conference opponent Mississippi State (6-0).

The Bulldogs have beaten three Sun Belt Conference teams this season: South Alabama 73-66, Louisiana-Lafayette 79-71 and Arkansas-Little Rock 93-81.

Saturday's game will be the tenth meeting between the two schools with MSU leading the head-to-head 7-2.

Photo by Brian Rodriguez

Indian point guard Odie Williams drives to the basket during Saturday's beating of Southern Miss 85-61.