2011-2012 Season Preview: Southern Miss

Filed under Season Preview on November 4th, 2011

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Southern Miss basketball gets the 2011-2012 season underway on November 12 in Hattiesburg against Spring Hill. From that first game, the Golden Eagles will attempt to match last season's run. They lose 62% of last season's minutes and hope to offset that with the contributions of two incoming freshmen.
Southern Miss will experience their biggest drop-off on offense, as the team lost 69.2% of their scoring. Equally as concerning is steals, where they also lost a big 67.4% of last year's output.

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Southern Miss finished last season with an overall record of 19-9 and placed 5th in the C-USA with a conference record of 9-7. The Golden Eagles lost to Memphis 66-63 in the C-USA tournament.

Southern Miss will feel the loss of last year's seniors R.L. Horton (31 minutes per game), Gary Flowers (31 MPG), Josimar Ayarza (17 MPG), and Sai`Quon Stone (16 MPG). The Golden Eagles must also do without Devonte (DJ) Newbill (transferred to Penn State), Kody Williams (5 MPG), and Kayland Partee (2 MPG).

The Golden Eagles welcome back senior Angelo Johnson (7.5 points/game), junior LaShay Page (6.2 points/game), senior Maurice Bolden (6.8 points/game), senior Torye Pelham (4.7 points/game), and senior Ahyaro Phillips (2.5 points/game).

The Golden Eagles bring on incoming freshmen including 5-11 Neil Watson and 6-11 Christian Robbins. The team also picks up 6-1 junior Richard Carlisle, 6-5 junior Rashard McGill (transferred from Iona), 6-6 junior Johnathan Mills, and 6-11 junior Keith DeWitt.

The Golden Eagles schedule includes two games against AP preseason Top 25 teams, at #11 Memphis on January 11th and #11 Memphis on February 1st. The first C-USA game for Southern Miss is against East Carolina on January 4th.

• Southern Miss has had 2 consecutive 20+ win seasons.
• Since 2001, Southern Miss has an overall winning percentage of 50.1%. The Golden Eagles have been improving over the last 5 years with an overall winning percentage of 59.2%.
• The Golden Eagles have an average conference finish of 5.8 over the last 5 seasons. Over the past 15 the team has an average finish of 6.3.
• The average final RPI (last year) of opponents on this year's schedule is 140.2.
• This year's opponent with the highest RPI from last year is Memphis (#33).
• This year's opponent with the lowest RPI from last year is Alcorn State (#338).
• The last time Southern Miss returned less than 35% of the team's statistical production was 2006-2007.

Tags: R.L. Horton, Gary Flowers, Josimar Ayarza, Sai`Quon Stone, Devonte (DJ) Newbill, Kody Williams, Kayland Partee, Angelo Johnson, LaShay Page, Maurice Bolden, Torye Pelham, Ahyaro Phillips, Neil Watson, Christian Robbins, Richard Carlisle, Rashard McGill, Jonathan Mills, Keith DeWitt