Eagles get third crack at Rice at C-USA tourney

Southern Miss will get a third crack at Rice at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

This time, though, there will be far more riding on it. The Golden Eagles and Owls are set to square off in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Rice (21-10) has defeated Southern Miss (9-21) twice this season — once at Reed Green Coliseum, and most recently at Tudor Fieldhouse on Feb. 23. Here are three things to keep an eye on in Wednesday’s matchup.

What gives?

Doc Sadler’s team has outshot, outrebounded and outperformed the Owls from the free throw line and off the bench. But Rice won the first meeting 61-58, and the second 72-71 in overtime.

In both meetings, Southern Miss finished with a better shooting percentage than Rice (39.2-36.7 on Jan. 21, and 44.4-39.4 on Feb. 23). The Golden Eagles hold a combined rebounding margin of plus-8 over the Owls.

So what gives? Handling pressure and turnovers.

On Jan. 21, Southern Miss trailed by as many as 24 points in the second half before storming back to cut the deficit to 55-53 with 20 seconds to play. After that, though, the Golden Eagles had to foul the Owls in hopes they would miss their opportunities. They didn’t — not enough, anyway. Rice made 6 of 8 tries from the stripe inside the final 17 seconds, after having made just 12 of 18 up to that point.

On Feb. 23, the Golden Eagles lost the turnover battle 15-12. But one, in particular, stood out. Southern Miss led 71-70 and had possession with 13 seconds left in the overtime period. But a Quinton Campbell turnover led to Marcus Evans’ game-winning layup with 1 second left on the clock.

Scouting report

Rice standouts make up 40 percent of the All-Conference USA First Team.

Guards Egor Koulechov and Marcus Evans make the Owls go. Evans leads the team with 18.8 points per game, while Koulechov’s 18.2 scoring average is second. Koulechov also averages 8.8 rebounds per game. Evans passes out 3.9 assists per game.

Against Southern Miss this season, Evans put up 17 points to lead the Owls in the first matchup while Koulechov scored 16 and hauled in 13 boards.

Most recently, Koulechov notched 26 points and 11 rebounds. Evans tallied 16 points.

Scoring struggles

Southern Miss’ difficulty scoring points has been well documented.

But the Golden Eagles have seen some improvement in that area. Sadler’s squad remains the lowest-scoring team in the league at 62.6 points per game. However, in its last five games, Southern Miss is putting up 72.6 points.

“Defensively, I think we can play with anybody,” Sadler said. “The thing we’ve struggled with is scoring points. But if we get one or two guys hot, anything can happen. I really believe that.”