The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Miss
Men's Basketball Falls To Southern Mississippi, 50-36
1/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 12, 2002
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Elvin Mims returned from a two-game suspension Saturday to score 25 points for Southern Mississippi as the Golden Eagles held UAB to 27.3 percent shooting in a 50-36 victory.
Mims, who was suspended following the Auburn game on Dec. 29 for an on-court violation of team rules, came off the bench early in the first half and gave Southern Mississippi (6-7, 1-2 Conference USA) a big lift.
The layoff didn't hurt the 6-foot-5 senior, who came into the game averaging 18.1 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
Mims was Southern Miss's only double-figure scorer. The Golden Eagles had lost four straight - two of them without Mims.
UAB (8-8, 1-2) made just five shots in the first half.
It was the first time Southern Mississippi held an opponent to under 40 points since 1996.
Southern Miss led 42-24 with 10:08 remaining before UAB went on a run to close the gap. UAB pulled to within 12, 48-36, when Morris Finley, the Blazers' leading scorer with 13 points, made a layup with 2:44 left.
That was as close as UAB would come.
Southern Miss led 28-16 at the half.
UAB held an early 6-2 lead, before Mims entered the game to guide Southern Miss on a 11-0 run and capture a 13-6 lead at 14:58 mark in the first half. The Golden Eagles never trailed after Mims entered the game.
The Golden Eagles shot 36.2 percent from the field, but forced 20 turnovers. Clement Carter had 10 rebounds for Southern Miss.
