Eagles aim to keep winning during the holidays

On Sunday the Southern Miss Golden Eagles defeated the New Mexico State University Aggies 74-66, the second eight-point victory over NMSU for USM in only nine days. This was a crucial bounce-back game for the Golden Eagles, as it was their first time in action since losing 81-90 in double overtime to Murray State in the championship game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.

This game was also an important momentum-building victory for the Golden Eagles, as the holiday season is quickly approaching.

"We're just going to keep playing the way we play," Southern Miss head basketball coach Larry Eustachy said when asked how his team would build momentum from the win. "We made a lot of mistakes and we were still able to win, so we'll watch the film and move on."

Excluding the Golden Eagles' home game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, the next eleven games will take place while the University of Southern Mississippi is officially closed for the winter holidays. In December they will face strong non-conference opponents such as Ole Miss, Arizona State and South Florida, as well as Belhaven, Alcorn State and McNeese State. On Jan. 4 they open up conference play against East Carolina and will also play Tulane, Memphis and UAB before the holidays come to a close.

In the latest ESPN/USA Today national polls, Memphis was ranked No. 20 in the nation, so this will be an excellent test for the Golden Eagles at this point in the season. When asked where he wanted his team to be following the holidays, Eustachy implied that record was not the most important thing.

"I'm hoping we're healthy," Eustachy said. "We've lost several players to injuries, so I'm hoping we have enough depth to compete. But if we do, we'll only be better for these games because they're really good opponents coming up."

If the Golden Eagles can stay healthy and produce some wins against quality opponents over the holidays, then maybe they can set their sights on a potential NCAA Tournament bid come March. But the season is still very young, and that is forward-thinking. The Golden Eagles have had a good start to the season, however, and they should continue to grow and improve into a real contender throughout December and into conference play in January.