Following back-to-back road losses to then-No. 11 North Carolina and Mississippi State, Tulane returned home on Tuesday and defeated struggling Southern Miss 59-40 at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans.

Tulane and Southern Miss spent many years as conference opponents in both the Metro Conference and Conference USA. The Dec. 22 meeting between the two teams was the 78th hardwood meeting between the two schools with Tulane now holding a slim 41-37 lead in the all-time series.

While the all-time series is close, Tuesday's installment of the rivalry was not.

Tulane (7-6) jumped out to a 23-13 lead with 8:30 left in the first half.

Southern Mississippi was hampered as its top scorer, junior guard Khari Price, picked up two early fouls.

Fueled by junior guard Malik Morgan (12 first-half points) and a dogged defense that held Southern Miss (2-8) to seven-for-27 first half shooting, the Green Wave stretched its lead to 18 points, 37-19 at the intermission and cruised home to victory.

Ten Tulane players scored, led by Morgan with 15 points and sophomore guard Cameron Reynolds who added 10 points.

The Green Wave hammered Southern Miss on the backboards, holding a 50-26 edge.

Sophomore forward Eddie Davis III paced Southern Miss with 12 points.

Southern Miss officials learned earlier Tuesday that they will appear before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions in Indianapolis on Jan. 21.

Southern Miss has already self-imposed postseason bans for 2015 and 2016. The NCAA in July levied seven Level-I violations against the program, among them charges that include arranging fraudulent academic credit and impermissible financial aid.