SMU guard Paul McCoy steals a loose ball on defense against Houston Baptist January 23 at Moody Coliseum. SMU won the game 82-68. (Spencer James Egger/The Daily Campus)

The Mustangs saw their four-game winning streak snap, when they lost to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 56-53 last night in Hattiesburg, Miss.
 

SMU (10-11, 3-4) climbed into the lead early in the first half, holding the Golden Eagles (13-8, 3-4) off by eight points with two minutes left. Although nine turnovers were committed in the first half, the Mustangs still led 27-24 at halftime.
 

Despite their early lead, the Mustangs struggled in the second half, allowing Southern Miss to take the final lead of the game at the 12:24 mark. The Golden Eagles reached a ten-point lead on two occasions, as they clinched their third consecutive victory in Conference USA play.
 

Derek Williams posted the Mustangs game-high score, with an impressive 24 points to accompany his six rebounds. The loss was William’s 18th game, in which he scored in the double digits, giving him fourth place in conference rankings for scoring average.
 

Second in scoring for the Mustangs was 6-foot-9-inch junior Papa Dia, with 11 points and nine boards. Gary Flowers, a 6-foot-8-inch junior forward led the Golden Eagles with 17 points and eight rebounds.
 

As a team, the Mustangs shot only 44-percent from the field and 50-percent in free throws. In comparison, Southern Miss began the game shooting 39-percent from the field, but finished the night shooting 65-percent from the charity stripe.
 

With the loss, the Mustangs have yet to defeat the Golden Eagles away from Moody Coliseum in their eight-game history. Prior to Tuesday’s loss, SMU had tied the program’s longest win streak, since the 2007-08 season. A fifth straight win would also have been the first set of back-to-back road wins for the Mustangs in C-USA play.
 

The Mustangs had 14 turnovers, but were only able to generate 10 points off the Golden Eagles’ nine turnovers. Southern Miss also out rebounded the Mustangs, 32-31.
 

The Mustangs travel to Tulane to take on the 6-14 and 4-7 Green Wave on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Fogelman Arena. SMU will be back in Moody Coliseum on Feb.10 to host the 15-5 and 6-1 University of Texas at El Paso.