HATTIESBURG - Southern Miss senior forward Elvin Mims poured in 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Golden Eagles throttled Saint Louis 67-46 tonight in a Conference USA men's basketball game before a sparse gathering at Reed Green Coliseum. USM snapped a four-game losing streak while extending the Billikens' losing skein to three.

"We've struggled with offensive execution against Southern Miss in the past, and it was evident again tonight," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "But give credit to Elvin Mims, who played like a senior, and they just climbed on his back."

The Billikens scored the first six points of the game and seemed to have control of the play early. With Saint Louis leading 12-10, the flow of the first half changed when USM head coach James Green was tagged with a technical foul. Billiken junior guard Drew Diener missed both free throws awarded on the T, and then missed an open base-line jumper off the ensuing possession. The Eagles raced the length of the floor, and guard Mario Myles completed a traditional three-point play to give USM its first lead with 11:50 to play in the half.

Diener provided Saint Louis with its last lead of the game on his second trey of the first half with 10:09 remaining before intermission. The Bills led 18-17, but could only score seven more points the rest of the half as the Eagles surged to a 28-25 halftime advantage.

Southern Miss (7-11, 2-6) went right to Mims to start the second half, and he responded by scoring eight of USM's first nine points in the second half. SLU went a three-minute stretch without a basket as the Eagles pushed their lead to 10 on Mims' three-point play with 13:06 left in the game. SLU never seriously challenged again.

The Eagles shot 54.5 percent in the second half and finished at 47.9 percent for the game. Although struggling from the free throw line for most of the season, the Eagles connected on 21-26 (.808). For one of the few times this year, USM took care of the ball with 13 assists and only 11 turnovers. The Eagles also out-rebounded the Bills 36-29 to gain only their second win in their last 10 games.

Saint Louis sophomore guard Jason Edwin led the Bills in scoring with 14 points, while junior forward Chris Braun contributed a career-high 11 rebounds. The Bills shot 35.4 percent from the field and a woeful 9-19 (.474) from the free throw line.

The Billikens (9-12, 3-5) continue their three-game C-USA road swing at East Carolina on Sat., Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. (CT).