HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Gary Flowers scored 27 points and Southern Mississippi overcame a two-point halftime deficit to beat Houston 85-73 in both teams' Conference USA opener on Wednesday night.
Houston (8-6) built a 38-36 lead by halftime, but the Cougars quickly fell behind.
Flowers scored 10 points in just nine first-half minutes due to foul trouble, but scored the first 15 points for Southern Miss to start the second half. The Golden Eagles (12-2) built a 63-48 lead by the 11-minute mark.
R.L. Horton added 18 points for Southern Miss, which is off to the best start in school history.
Southern Miss led by as many as 15 in the second half, and Bolden and Flowers combined to make 19 of 26 shots.
Adam Brown led the Cougars with 20 points, but Houston committed 16 turnovers to Southern Miss' eight, and its bench managed just 15 points.
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