Men's Basketball Cruises By Southern Miss
February 23, 2005 | Men's Basketball
By KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) --- Corey Rouse had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Mike Cook added 19 points, leading East Carolina past Southern Mississippi 77-66 Wednesday night in the Pirates' first game since coach Bill Herrion was told he won't be back next season.
Athletic director Terry Holland and senior associate AD Nick Floyd asked Herrion to step down during a meeting Tuesday morning, and Herrion turned down their offer of a job raising money for the athletic department.
Moussa Badiane finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two steals for East Carolina (9-17, 4-10 Conference USA), which won for the second time in three games.
Michael Ford scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half, but couldn't stop the Eagles (10-16, 1-13) from losing their seventh straight. Jarekus Singleton had 16.
Herrion strolled to the court with about a minute left in pre-game warmups, and his appearance was greeted warmly by the fans. He acknowledged their applause with a wave, then went down to welcome Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy.
The conversation lasted about a minute and actually ran into the beginning of the player introductions. Herrion did most of the talking, perhaps explaining what had happened to him in the previous 36 hours.
Later, when the cheerleaders were trying to orchestrate a chant of ''Purple'' and ''Gold'' during a timeout, the crowd instead used ''Bill'' and ''Herrion.'' The coach obviously is loved by the students, who fill most of the lower level at Minges Coliseum for nearly every game and stand throughout.
Herrion certainly will leave his successor with plenty of talent, assuming everyone stays. The Pirates have only one senior on the roster in Badiane, and four freshmen figure prominently in the rotation.
And with changes in Conference USA in 2005-06 _ current powers Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte and DePaul, among others, are leaving for other conferences _ the new coach should have a chance to win. That hasn't happened often for East Carolina, which reached the NCAA tournament for the only time in 1993.
The Pirates broke from a tie at 51 with three consecutive 3-pointers by Japhet McNeil, Tom Hammonds and Cook, then Cook provided the exclamation point with another one from about 30 feet as the shot clock wound down.
That made it 74-62 in the final two minutes, and East Carolina cruised from there.
