HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Raheem Appleby scored 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field and added four assists to lead Louisiana Tech to an 83-70 victory over Southern Miss in a Conference USA opener for both teams Saturday night.

Xavian Stapleton added 17 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs (10-4, 1-0).

Louisiana Tech did much of its damage in the first half, building a 16-point lead at the break on the strength of a 14-3 scoring stretch late in the period.

Chip Armelin led the Golden Eagles (5-7, 0-1) with 23 points. Matt Bingaya finished with 18 points and Davon Hayes added 10 for Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles shot a red hot 62.8 percent from the field and 9 of 17 from three point range, but were done in by 12 Bulldogs offensive rebounds and a minus-13 showing in turnover margin.