HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) Southern Mississippi executed a balanced attack led by Michael Craig's 12 points and 11 rebounds in shutting down Tulane 78-47 on Saturday night.
Chip Armelin and Daveon Boardingham scored 11 points each as the Golden Eagles shot 48 percent from the field but only made 3 of 13 3-point attempts.
Southern Mississippi (19-3, 6-1 Conference-USA) led 35-23 at the break, and their total dominance inside, coupled with Tulane's poor shooting effort, left the second half void of any competitive action. Southern Miss led 56-30 midway through the second half, en route to the 31-point win.
Tulane (11-11, 3-4) put up only 34 field goal attempts hitting just 38 percent and were crushed in the paint losing the rebound battle 40-19, including a 15-2 Southern Miss advantage on the offensive boards. Southern Miss forced 15 Tulane turnovers while giving up only eight themselves.
Louis Dabney scored 14 for Tulane.
