Jacksonville State defeats Florida International 65-56 in Conference USA Tournament quarterfinal

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead No. 2 seed Jacksonville State to a 65-56 win over No. 10 seed Florida International on Wednesday night in a Conference USA Tournament quarterfinal.

Jacksonville State (21-11) will face the winner between Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech on Friday.

Quel'Ron House scored 18 points and added three steals for the Gamecocks. Michael Houge added nine points.

The Panthers (10-23) were led by Jayden Brewer, who recorded 18 points and three steals. Jonathan Aybar added 13 points and six rebounds for Florida International. Dashon Gittens finished with nine points and three steals.

Jacksonville State took the lead with 9:57 to go in the first half and never looked back. The score was 28-24 at halftime, with Pierre racking up eight points. Jacksonville State used a 9-0 run in the second half to build a 10-point lead at 47-37 with 12:19 left.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.