Marquette University Athletics
Men's Basketball Comes up short against Southern Miss
1/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sixteen second-half points by Travis Diener were not enough to pull Marquette (11-4, 2-2 in C-USA) ahead of a hot-shooting Southern Miss (9-6, 2-2) squad that hit 66.7 percent of its shots in the second half, including 80.0 percent from the three-point line. For the game, southern miss shot 53.1 percent from the field, and 57.1 percent from behind-the-arc. The impressive offensive display was not limited to Southern Miss. Dameon Mason set a collegiate-high in points for the second straight, game leading the team with 17, and Scott Merritt added 16 points. Marquette was unable to reel in Southern Miss after cutting the lead to five with 11 minutes to play in the game.
Southern Miss used a 37-26 advantage in rebounding to generate 10 second- chance points. Late free throw shooting gave Southern Miss a strong advantage, making 23-of-32, while Marquette made only seven in ten attempts. Leading five scorers in double-figures for Southern Miss was Greg Johnson, who tallied 24, on 9-of-14 shooting.
Marcus Jackson led Marquette in rebounding, with five, and Travis Diener added six assists.
Marquette is back in action Tuesday, when the Golden Eagles travel to Charlotte. Tip-off against the 49ers is slated for 6:30 CST. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Net.
