University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Southern Miss
Men's Basketball Knocks Off Southern Mississippi, 73-64
Jan 18, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan 18, 2002
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Dajuan Wagner scored 23 of his 28 points in the second half and Scooter McFadgon hit two 3-pointers during a decisive spurt as Memphis defeated Southern Mississippi 73-64 Friday night.
The Tigers (15-4, 5-0 Conference USA) have won five straight and nine of 10.
Elvin Mims scored 29 points to keep the Golden Eagles (6-9, 1-4) close, but they still lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Memphis routed Southern Miss 75-53 earlier this month, despite getting just nine points from Wagner, who came in as C-USA's second-leading scorer 20.9 per game.
In the first half of the rematch, it was more of the same for Wagner. The freshman scored just five points, but this time his teammates didn't pick up the slack and the Tigers trailed 26-22 at halftime.
The Golden Eagles couldn't keep Wagner down. He scored 13 of Memphis' first 19 points in the second half. His 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down tied the game at 41 with 10:25 left.
Kelly Wise scored all of his 11 points in the second half and it took the Tigers nearly 35 minutes to pull away from the pesky Eagles.
McFadgon's first 3 gave Memphis a 51-49 lead with 7:33 left. Moments later he hit another to increase the lead to seven. Wagner completed the 10-0 run with a leaner from 10 feet to put Memphis up 58-49 with about 5 minutes left.
McFadgon had 10 of his 11 in the second half. He, Wagner and Wise scored 44 of Memphis' 51 second-half points.
Wagner punctuated his stellar second half with a soaring alley-oop dunk that made the score 61-54 with 3:25 left.
Both teams came out misfiring, going scoreless for the first 4:20. The next 15 minutes weren't much better, especially for Memphis.
The Tigers were 6-for-23 (26 percent) in the first half with Wagner going 1-for-7. They also committed 10 turnovers, sending coach John Calipari into a several foot-stomping fits.
Mims, who ranks fifth in scoring in C-USA, scored 14 in the first half, including six in the final 3 minutes as the Golden Eagles closed the half on an 11-2 run.
