TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Neil Watson scored 23 points and Dwayne Davis scored 20 to lead second-seeded Southern Mississippi to an 81-66 victory over UAB on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
The Golden Eagles (24-8) will play UTEP in Friday's semifinals. The Miners defeated Houston 80-69.
Watson and Davis had five assists apiece, and both went 7 for 11 from the field with Davis making four 3-pointers and Watson three. Davis was coming off of back-to-back 30-point games against Marshall and UCF.
Southern Miss shot 53 percent, led 40-26 at halftime and never saw its second-half lead dip below seven points.
Rod Rucker scored 20 points to lead the Blazers (16-17), the No. 7 seed. Preston Purifoy added 10 points. UAB beat SMU 53-52 in the first round on Wednesday.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| UAB (16-17) | 26 | 40 | 66 |
| Southern Miss (24-8) « | 40 | 41 | 81 |
| UAB:R. Rucker 20 Pts UAB:R. Rucker 7 Reb UAB:Q. Taylor 6 Ast |
USM:N. Watson 23 Pts USM:J. Mills 9 Reb USM:N. Watson 5 Ast |
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| PLAYERS OF THE GAME | |||||
| UAB | Southern Miss | ||||
 Rod Rucker |  Neil Watson | ||||
| Pts | Rebs | Ast | Pts | Rebs | Ast |
| 20 | 7 | 2 | 23 | 4 | 5 |
| UAB Blazers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Swing, F | 35 | 3-9 | 1-2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| Q. Taylor, G | 34 | 2-8 | 2-4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| R. Rucker, F | 32 | 9-14 | 2-5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| F. Alihodzic, C | 26 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| R. Williams, G | 22 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| T. Jones, G | 26 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| P. Purifoy, G | 18 | 3-7 | 3-5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| I. Jones, G | 3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| A. Scotland-Williamson, F | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Moton, G | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| K. Whitaker, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| Totals | 24-54 | 11-19 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 66 | |
| 44.4% | 57.9% | ||||||
| Complete Box Score | |||||||
| Southern Miss Golden Eagles | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| D. Davis, F | 35 | 7-11 | 2-2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 20 |
| J. Brooks, G | 33 | 5-11 | 1-2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| D. Boardingham, F | 21 | 3-6 | 3-3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| J. Mills, F | 20 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| C. Jenkins, G | 13 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| N. Watson, G | 32 | 7-11 | 6-8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 23 |
| R. McGill, G | 25 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| N. Carey, F | 13 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| D. Edwin, G | 6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| C. Robbins, F | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Chapman, G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Brown, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| C. Armelin, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| J. Zuppardo, F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| M. Craig, G-F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| Totals | 29-55 | 14-19 | 35 | 17 | 17 | 81 | |
| 52.7% | 73.7% | ||||||
| Complete Box Score | |||||||
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