How It Happened
Rhode Island (7-6) cut a 12-point deficit to two late in the second half, but Southern Miss pulled away down the stretch for a 77-64 Saturday.

The opening 20 minutes was tightly contested, as Southern Miss (12-2) went into the break with a 35-34 lead. The Golden Eagles began the second half on a a 21-10 run to establish a 12-point lead.

A layup by freshman E.C. Matthews capped a 12-2 run for the Rams to make it 64-62 with 5:15 remaing. That was as close as Rhode Island got, as Southern Miss held the Rams to two points the rest of the way. The Rams were 1-for-7 from the floor in the final 4:39, with the lone basket coming on a Hassan Martin dunk with 44 seconds left.

Inside the Box Score

• Southern Miss had a big advantage in the paint, outscoring the Rams 42-18 down low. The Golden Eagles also had 14 second-chance points, compared to five for Rhody.
• Michael Craig had a double-double for the Golden Eagles, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Neil Watson also had 14 points, while Aaron Brown had 13 and Jerrold Brooks scored 11 for Southern Miss.
• Rhody freshman E.C. Matthews reached double figures for the sixth time this season. He finished with 17 points, just one shy of his career best. He added three assists, three rebounds, one block and one steal.
• Senior Xavier Munford had 17 points to go with five assists.
• After playing a clean first half with just three turnovers, Rhode Island coughed it up four times in the opening 8:22 of the second half to help Southern Miss open the with a 21-10 spurt after the break.  
• Junior T.J. Buchanan attempted a career-high 10 free throws en route to a 10-point performance. Buchanan now has 46 free throw attempts this season, which is a career high.
• Buchanan added two blocked shots, three rebounds and two assists.
• Freshman Hassan Martin continued to make his presence felt on the defensive end, blocking four shots and grabbing four defensive rebounds. In his last four games, Martin has 16 blocked shots.
• The game featured two players from Abuja, Nigeria. Rhode Island's Ifeanyi Onyekaba and Southern Miss' Ude Ifeanyichukwu hail from the same place.

Stat of the Day
25 – Rhode Island was called for 25 fouls, one shy of its season high (26 against New Hampshire, Dec. 22). Southern Miss was 25-of-35 from the free throw line.

What's Next
Rhode Island travels up Route 95 to take on in-state rival Brown on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.