By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Dec. 20, 2000
HATTIESBURG Tuesday night at Reed Green Coliseum, the Wonderboys weren't so wonderful.
And after the sound 87-41 beating they sustained at the hands of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, Arkansas Tech (0-8) may wonder just when they will get that elusive first win.
USM improved to 9-1, but now the schedule gets a lot tougher, as the Golden Eagles hit the road for a Dec. 27 date at the Pyramid to face off with John Calipari's Memphis Tigers.
As for what positives Green's bunch could take away in the Memphis tuneup, Green had quite a bit of time to think about them.
Elvin Mims paced the potent Eagle attack with 20 points and seven rebounds. Center Vandarel Jones added 13 and forward David Wall continued his steady play by hitting for 10 in a game that saw USM enjoy a 35-16 halftime lead.
USM enjoyed a 44-36 rebounding edge.
ATU's lone bright spot came in the form of Jerry Lee, who scored 15 points and grabbed seven boards.
USM's Carlos Gill cleaned up in the second half with 16 points and four boards in 15 minutes of work. It was his first game back since tearing his medial colateral ligament in the win over Arkansas.
USM committed only eight turnovers to ATU's 20.
The lead hovered in the high 30's for much of the garbage-time second stanza, before seven straight points by Gill ballooned the lead to 48 with 2:28 to go.
USM outscored the Wonderboys 40-14 in the paint and 29-2 off second chance points. ATU shot 30 percent for the game, compared to 47 for the Golden Eagles.
ATU put up the first bucket of the game and USM responded with an 11-0 run, a sampling of what was to come.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for the Meridian Star. Email him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.