Middle Tennessee wins 20th, tops Charlotte, 71-49

Published Feb. 20, 2014 9:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Middle Tennessee took a 10-point lead at intermission thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Marcus Tarrance and rolled to its 20th win of the season with a 71-49 victory at Charlotte Thursday night.

With their eighth straight conference win, the Blue Raiders (20-7, 10-2 C-USA) maintained a share of the Conference USA top spot with four games remaining in the regular season. The win was the second meeting between the two schools and comes 26 years after their first, with Charlotte won on a neutral site, 78-63.

Shawn Jones scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Middle Tennessee, with Neiko Hunter and Kerry Hammonds II adding 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Charlotte (14-11, 5-7) outrebounded Middle Tennessee 37-30, but struggled with 20 turnovers.

Terrence Williams scored 11 points to lead the 49ers, but was the only player to reach double-figure scoring.