Tenn Martin at Southern Mississippi

Coach Larry Eustachy is certainly on the hot seat at S. Miss. He had four defections this year as several players decided they'd prefer to play basketball elsewhere. He will have to depend on blending 11 new faces, as his roster has completely turned over from just two years ago. There will be 11 new faces, which include 3 juco transfers, and the early going may be a bit rough. Last year's team was dead last in C-USA in scoring and last in defense. Bret Campbell's Tennessee Martin team won more games in the OVC than they have in 10 years prior! He brings a motion offense, that lacks in fire power, but is veteran enough to show plenty of disipline. He added gerald Robinson a juco transfer that has already blazed the nets for 23, so there is offensive help. Campbell is known for his defensive teams, and an inexperienced S. Miss team will see a better defense than they have had to work against, and will struggle. They commited 21 TO'S in a game vs Belhaven and shot just 41%. Wise had 5 TO's and Bain 4 in just 18 minutes. They also gave away the ball on 9 steals by a very very poor Belhaven team. It shows the lack of court integrity in this early stage of trying to assemble 11 new faces, and it will take some time. We like the methodical Tenn Martin team, that is in a program where defense comes first versus a very inexperienced S. Miss team.