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GAME NOTES: The Southern Miss Golden Eagles hope to stay hot when they visit Hofheinz Pavilion this evening to take on the Houston Cougars in a Conference USA clash.

After starting 0-4 in league play, Southern Miss has won three straight to improve to 3-4 entering this matchup. On Tuesday night, the Golden Eagles notched a 56-53 victory over SMU. They'll follow up tonight's contest with another road game at Tulsa on Wednesday, before returning to Hattiesburg for a pivotal four-game homestand.

Meanwhile, Houston is coming off a tough 65-58 loss at UTEP on Wednesday night. For the Cougars, it marked their third loss in the last four games. They could really use a win before hitting the road for three of their next four.

Houston holds a 15-13 series edge over Southern Miss, and the Cougars have won the last three meetings in Houston.

Southern Miss played a rather sluggish game on Tuesday night against SMU, save for a key 15-2 run in the second half that provided a double-digit cushion. SMU made things interesting with a late rally, but the Golden Eagles were able to hang on for a much-needed win despite shooting just 38.8 percent from the floor. It snapped the team's nine-game skid in games decided by three points or less. Gary Flowers led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Angelo Johnson contributed 14 points in the win. Flowers has been in the starting lineup every game this season and he leads the squad with 14.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Maurice Bolden (10.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg) helps man the low post, while Johnson checks in with 9.7 ppg. The Golden Eagles pride themselves on playing sound defense, as they've held foes to 39.8 percent shooting and 60.2 ppg.

Houston guard Aubrey Coleman is the complete package, as he leads the nation in both scoring (26.0 ppg) and steals (3.2 spg), and he is also pulling down 7.5 rpg. While Coleman has the ability to score almost at will, he has had a bit of help at the offensive end. Kelvin Lewis (16.0, 4.3 rpg) has been able to stretch opposing defenses by knocking down 72 three-pointers (.424) on the year. Adam Brown (9.4 ppg) and Maurice McNeil (8.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg) also factor in heavily for the Cougars. However, they didn't put forth a very well-rounded effort on Wednesday at UTEP. Coleman shot a woeful 9-of-27 from the floor en route to his game-high 23 points, while Lewis finished with 16 points and eight boards. The rest of the Cougars combined for just 19 points.

The Golden Eagles are finally starting to play some solid basketball against conference foes. In order to make it four wins in a row, they'll have to focus all their efforts on stopping Coleman.