Box Score BILOXI, Miss. -- A 19-5 first-half run helped Southern Mississippi cruise past New Orleans 84-62 in first-day action of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic on Tuesday.
Jeremy Wise had a game-high 29 points, while Craig Craft added 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the Golden Eagles (6-3) won their third straight game.
USM put four scorers in double figures.
Bo McCalebb had 24 points to lead UNO (7-2), which had a three-game win streak snapped. Kyndall Dykes chipped in 15 points and six rebounds.
Shaun Reynolds had 12 -- 10 in the second half.
James Parlow also had two 3-pointers to make him the Privateers' career trey leader with 179.
The Golden Eagles won the game on the boards, out-rebounding UNO 42-25. USM had a 23-9 edge in the first half -- including a 9-1 advantage on the offensive glass.
Despite the rebounding problems, UNO was only down 15-12 with 9:19 left in the first half following a Parlow 3-pointer.
But USM got hot from the field, making 8 of its next 11 shots to stretch its lead to 34-17 with 4:24 left in the frame.
The Golden Eagles led by as many as 19 in the first half before taking a 38-23 halftime lead.
UNO never got the lead under double figures the rest of the way.
The Privateers will continue tournament play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday against Alcorn State. The Braves fell to Louisiana Tech 78-69 earlier in the day.
