Inside
Game Day Wednesday, January
25, 2012
By Al Myatt |
|
Southern Miss prolongs ECU's
struggle
Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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GREENVILLE — It's been said
that there are lies, damn lies and statistics, the inference being that
statistics can be misleading.
That wasn't the case as Southern Miss won its 18th game of the season,
72-60, over East Carolina in Williams Arena of Minges Coliseum on Wednesday
night.
The Pirates avoided the slow start that characterized their mode of
operation early in the Conference USA schedule but with 2:35 left in the
first half, ECU had made two of nine 3-point attempts while the Golden
Eagles had dropped five of eight. Southern Miss was 8 for 8 at the free
throw line while the Pirates were 1 for 3. ECU was getting outrebounded
26-12.
At that moment in time, the statistics were very truthful and it was no
mystery as to why early Pirate leads of 13-7 and 15-9 had turned into a
33-23 deficit.
ECU coach Jeff Lebo didn't know Wednesday afternoon if he would be able to
coach because a left eye infection had limited his vision. The condition
cleared up and Lebo wore glasses for the game. I was wondering if he might
go for the Pirate look with an eye patch but he wouldn't have liked much of
what he saw either way. As former ECU football coach Steve Logan might put
it, Stevie Wonder could see the issues the Pirates are facing.
The consistent ills in an 0-6 C-USA start for ECU can be traced to the
limitations of personnel. It starts with a lack of frontcourt depth. The
Pirates lost 6-foot-8 South Carolina transfer Austin Steed when his reported
GPA of 2.85 was not good enough for him to continue his graduate studies. He
became ineligible at semester break. Robert Sampson continues to struggle
with areas of the game that require touch because of a thumb brace on his
left shooting hand. Maurice Kemp, who is 6-8 but weighs just 180 pounds is a
little "light in the tail" as Lebo describes it, which limits him physically
inside.
Yasin Kolo, a 6-10 freshman, went out early with a foot condition.
The frontcourt deficiencies resulted in 40 minutes for senior center Darrius
Morrow, who provided 14 points and 11 rebounds in another workmanlike
effort. At this point, the question is who can Lebo sub for him?
The manner in which teams usually compensate for lack of size include
outrunning opponents or extending defensive pressure, neither of which have
been viable solutions.
Pirate point guard Miguel Paul is a jet on the dribble but the players
filling the lanes in fast break situations don't beat opposing defenses down
the floor. Lebo said foes are aware of taking that area of attack away from
ECU.
Lack of depth is a factor that eliminates the defensive pressure option for
lengthy periods. It's simply too exhausting for the Pirates to play 94 feet
for 40 minutes.
ECU has sought to overcome its weaknesses with good shooting. Other than
Paul's 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc on Wednesday night, the Pirates
were 1-for-10 from distance. That won't get it done.
The Pirates made 52.9 percent of their field goal attempts in a 78-76 loss
at Southern Miss in the league opener on Jan. 4. ECU finished 20 of 47 for
42.6 percent in the sequel at home.
"I just thought we were fortunate that they missed shots," said USM coach
Larry Eustachy, who said this is the best team he's had in eight seasons
with the Golden Eagles.
As ECU slipped to 9-10 overall, the caliber of competition should be taken
into consideration. Southern Miss is balanced with five players averaging in
double figures. Five scored in double figures against the Pirates but it
wasn't all of the same five who lead team scoring for the season. That means
a lot more for opposing coaches to deal with than ECU is presenting at the
moment. Eustachy said the defensive focus was primarily on Paul, who had 21
points, and Morrow. Erin Straughn helped ECU make a mild rally in the second
half and assumed the third scoring spot, often manned by Kemp. Straughn had
14 points. Kemp managed but two.
The Pirates' personnel isn't going to change until more size and shooting
ability became available next season.
ECU travels to Alabama-Birmingham for an 8 p.m. game Saturday and at least
no one seems to be saying that something can't be salvaged from the season.
As Morrow alluded, ECU was 11-9 on Jan. 26 last season but went on to finish
18-16 for its first winning record since 1996-97. He made the point that
this year's record is comparable.
Paul said he has no regrets about transferring from Missouri, although the
Tigers are currently 18-2 and ranked No. 2 nationally.
"It's tough on everybody," Lebo said of the six-game losing streak. "We just
need one win to feel good about ourselves. ... There's no magic dust we can
sprinkle on them. We've just got to keep working."
BOX
SCORE
SOUTHERN
MISSISSIPPI 72, EAST CAROLINA 60
Date:
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012
Place: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 4,235
Records: ECU 9-10 (0-6 Conference USA); USM 18-3 (5-1)
SCORE BY PERIODS 1 2 FINAL
Southern Miss 38
34 - 72
East Carolina
23 37 - 60
SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
#
PLAYER FG 3PT FT R PTS MIN
......................... ..
... .. . ... ...
24 Mills, Jonathan..... f 5-10 0-0
3-4 8 13 23
00 Page, LaShay........ g 3-7
2-5 4-4 1 12 40
01 Bolden, Maurice..... g 3-7
0-1 2-2 11 8 30
12 McGill, Rashard..... g 0-3
0-0 0-0 0 0 7
23 Johnson, Angelo..... g 1-5
0-1 0-0 5 2 29
02 Dodson, Darnell....... 4-9
2-3 0-0 6 10 14
05 Watson, Neil.......... 4-7
1-2 2-3 2 11 33
10 Jenkins, Cedric....... 2-4
2-2 0-0 6 6 12
15 Pelham, Torye......... 1-3
0-0 8-10 2 10 12
TEAM.....................
2
TOTALS................... 23-55 7-14 19-23 43
72 200
PERCENT.................. 41.8 50.0
82.6
EAST
CAROLINA PIRATES
#
PLAYER FG 3PT FT R PTS MIN
......................... ..
... .. . ... ...
01 Morrow, Darrius..... f 6-10 0-0
2-6 11 14 40
12 Sampson, Robert..... f 0-0
0-0 0-0 1 0 15
00 Paul, Miguel........ g 5-11 3-4
8-9 1 21 30
20 Bowden, Shamarr..... g 1-6
1-4 2-4 1 5 29
23 Straughn, Erin...... g 6-8
0-2 2-3 4 14 34
02 Kemp, Maurice......... 0-3
0-1 2-2 1 2 19
11 Gaines, Corvonn....... 1-4
0-1 0-0 3 2 15
22 CAMPBELL, Paris....... 1-5
0-2 0-0 1 2 12
35 Morales, Darius....... 0-0
0-0 0-0 0 0 6
TEAM.....................
3
TOTALS................... 20-47 4-14 16-24 26
60 200
PERCENT.................. 42.6 28.6
66.7
Fouled
out: None
Technical Fouls: None
Officials: Les Jones, Jeff Smith, J.B. Caldwell
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
01/27/12 01:26 AM.
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