[SBRforum Staff]

Eustachy's Eagles vs Doherty's Mustangs

Game Time: 3/7/2007 3:30:00 PM
By: Larry Ness


Larry Eustachy has gone from party animal to solid basketball coach this year at Southern Mississippi, and his Golden Eagles will be going for their 20th win when they take on SMU coached by Brad Doherty. Southern Miss' guard play should be the key factor in Eustachy and the Eagles getting that 20th win at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, 3:30 p.m. (ET)

Keep Larry Eustachy away from the sorority and fraternity parties, and he's one heckuva' coach.

Eustachy went 11-17 in his first year and 10-21 last year. But this year he's led the Golden Eagles to a 19-10 mark. Led by freshman guards Jeremy Wise (17.6), Sai'quon Stone (10.3-5.4) and Jarvis Hill (7.6), plus sophomores Craig Craft (8.8) and Courtney Beasley (9.8), Southern Miss has quite a perimeter game. The 6-8 Andre Stephens (4.5-4.3) and the 7-0 Gijo Bain (3.8-5.2) don't score much but give the team some bulk inside.

SMU was just 3-13 in C-USA this year (Southern Miss was 9-7) and in the teams' lone meeting this year, the Mustangs lost at home to the Golden Eagles by a point. SMU has a stronger inside game with the 6-9 Ike Ofoegbu (14.5-7.6), the 6-6 Devon Pearson (9.5-6.1) and the 6-11 Donatas Rackauskas (7.9-5.7). But SMU is weak in the backcourt, and with Derrick Roberts (8.8) questionable with a knee injury (did not play in SMU's last game), the Mustangs are left with only Jon Killen (7.9) on the perimeter since 6-5 swingman Brian Epps (8.9) was dismissed from the team in late February.

Southern Methodist enters this game losers of eight of their last nine games and the Mustangs are 2-11 straight up as an underdog this year. And they not getting very many points here, so losing but covering is not likely. As for Southern Miss, the team is 9-1 straight up and against the spread as favorite in 2006-07. Take Southern Miss.

Play: Southern Mississippi -4½

[SBRforum Staff]

Eagles -4 vs Mustangs

Game Time: 3/7/2007 3:30:00 PM
By: Bob Harvey


It's a battle of SMU's, with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles the right play in the Conf-USA tourney against the SMU Mustangs.

In the battle of "SMU's" I'm taking the Golden Eagles to soar into the second round of the C-USA conference.

Larry Eustachy is a tournament-tested coach who has turned his life around and has also turned around the hoop fortunes of Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles come in 19-10 straight up and 15-4 against the spread. They're also an impressive 8-1 against the spread on the road. They won and covered against SMU earlier in this season, winning 57-56 as an 8½-point underdog.

Matt Doherty's Mustangs played their "Game of the Year" Saturday, nearly pulling off an upset of 5th-ranked Memphis. Look for a flat SMU team against a hungry Southern Mississippi squad that likely needs to win the tournament to get to the Big Dance.

Play: Southern Mississippi -4

[bigboydan]

Southern Miss is the only way I could play this game myself gentlemen.

[LT Profits]

I bet Southern Miss at -3.5. The line drop is suspicious, but I took the bait!

[Peyton2MarvinN06]

I bet Southern Miss at -3.5. The line drop is suspicious, but I took the bait!

LT, I just took the bait as well and took them for a unit... I believe the only reason this line is this low is because SMU played Memphis tough last weekend, but Memphis coulda cared less about that game! Southern Miss wins today by atleast 5!

[dirtyjock]

If i were betting on it id take SO MISS