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Watson is fastest to 50 wins

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 12^th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team finished strong in an 82-42 victory over Berea College Tuesday night at the Physical Activities Center. USI rises to 2-0 in 2011-12, while Berea falls to 0-8 on the young season.
 
The victory was the 50^th career win for Head Coach Rodney Watson, who reached the milestone in 59 games and becomes the fastest USI head coach to reach that mark. Watson surpassed former USI Head Coach Bruce Pearl, who reached 50 wins in 61 games between 1992 and 1994.
 
The Screaming Eagles started slow after a nine-day layoff between tonight and the season opener. USI was able to build a 16-6 lead with 12:51 left in the first half, only to see Berea cut the margin in half two minutes later.
 
The Eagles' offense started to ignite in the final 10 minutes of the first half as they outscored the Mountaineers, 17-8, to go into the intermission with a 33-18 advantage.
 
In the second half, the USI offense hit the gas and soared out to a 25 points lead, 54-29, before the first 10 minutes were gone. The largest lead of the game would come with 1:46 left when junior guard Travis Jones (Carmi, Illinois) hit a three-point field goal to give USI a 82-40 lead.
 
The Mountaineers picked up one more bucket in the final 1:30 to give the game its final score of 82-42.
 
USI had three players reach double-figures on the scoreboard with junior guard Melvyn Little (Louisville, Kentucky) leading the way with 22 points. Jones followed Little with 16 points, including four three-point field goals, while sophomore forward Taylor Wischmeier (Brownstown, Indiana) finished with 12 points.
 
Eagles' sophomore guard Lawrence Thomas (Springfield, Illinois) aided the USI offensive attack by dishing out a career-high 10 assists in the victory.
 
USI concludes the season-opening homestand by hosting the Bill Joergens Memorial Classic November 25-26 at the PAC. The fifth annual classic features USI, Bellarmine University, Malone University, and Indiana University Southeast.
 
Bellarmine tips off the tournament at 5:15 p.m. Friday against Malone, while USI and IU Southeast finish the first day of action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's contests will include Bellarmine against IU Southeast at 1 p.m. and USI taking on Malone at 3:15 p.m.