Speculation about whether the Southern Miss Golden Eagles really are a tournament team continues as they struggled to beat East Carolina, needing overtime to beat the Pirates in a quarterfinal matchup. <\/p>\n
Conference USA Semifinal Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Southern Miss<\/strong><\/p>\n The record is gaudy but a look behind the numbers reveals that their best wins are probably a 2 pointer over South Florida, another bubble team, and a 3 pointer against Memphis at home. \u00a0I am not sure Conference USA is more than a one bid league if favoured Memphis wins the title.<\/p>\n The Golden Eagles feature a guard heavy attack with four backcourt players averaging between 10 and 12 points per game.<\/p>\n Darnell Dodson transferred out of Kentucky in pursuit of more playing time and though he only averages 18 minutes per game he uses that time very wisely scoring 10+ points per game, making him one of the most efficient scorers around.<\/p>\n Southern Miss can get pushed around as only one player in their regular rotation tops 6\u20197\u201d.<\/p>\n They will probably look to run the weary Thundering Herd out of the gym. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Marshall<\/strong><\/p>\n It took three overtimes but Marshall finally put away Tulsa yesterday, advancing themselves to the semifinals and destroying the logistics of the Conference USA tournament.<\/p>\n The Thundering Herd are still a long shot to make the tournament but they have a chance to grab even more attention if they can beat a Southern Miss squad they just beat to close the regular season.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s split their two games with each winning on their home flour by 4 points.<\/p>\n The real question is how much energy Marshall still has left.<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t get a bye like Southern Miss did in round 1 and played almost an extra half a game yesterday. \u00a0Guard DeAndre Kane scored 40 points, but it far from a masterful performance as he made just 15 of 35 shots. \u00a0He was a dreadful 1 for 9 from three and will have to be better to keep \u00a0Marshall in the game.<\/p>\n This team isn\u2019t very deep and might be too emotionally spent to win another round.<\/p>\n
\nSouthern Mississippi Golden Eagles (25-7) vs Marshall Thundering Herd (20-12)
\nFriday March 9
\nThe Pyramid – Memphis, TN
\n4:00PM
\nMoneyline: \u00a0No money line currently listed
\nSpread: No line currently listed
\nO\/U: \u00a0No line currently listed<\/strong><\/p>\n