Charlotte holds on to beat Texas-San Antonio, 89-81
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Torin Dorn scored 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting and Terrence Williams added a career-high 21 points to help lead Charlotte to an 89-81 win over Texas-San Antonio on Saturday.
Mike Thorne Jr. added 15 points and nine rebounds for the 49ers (1-14, 4-8 Conference USA), who shot 54.9 percent, their highest mark of the season, had 16 total assists, and hit 24 of 28 at the free throw line.
Charlotte led by double digits for large portions of the second half but Texas-San Antonio (13-11, 7-6) made a late run, cutting the 49ers lead to four points on a Phillip Jones layup with 53 seconds left. However a pair of free throws by Williams with 44 seconds left and two more by Pierria Henry 13 seconds later pushed the lead back to eight and put the game away.
Keon Lewis led Texas-San Antonio with 25 points.
Marshall knocks off Western Kentucky 87-82
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Austin Loop scored 23 points and Marshall knocked off Western Kentucky 87-82 on Saturday.
The Hilltoppers (16-8, 9-3) fall a full game behind Conference USA leader Louisiana Tech with the loss.
Western Kentucky led 69-67 on Chris Harrison-Docks 3-pointer with 8:03 to go. Marshall (9-16, 5-7) responded by scoring 14 of the next 19 points, including Austin Loop's 3-pointer and a pair from the line by Ryan Taylor, which made it 83-74 with 1:02 left. Western Kentucky missed three consecutive 3-pointers in the last minute.
Loop's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the first helped Marshall lead 47-43 at the break.
Justin Edmonds had 15 points and Taylor added 14 points and 11 boards for Marshall. DeVince Boykins and JP Kambola chipped in 10 points apiece.
Harrison-Docks paced Western Kentucky with 20 points. Trency Jackson had 16 points, T.J. Price scored 13, Ben Lawson added 12 and George Fant had 10 points and seven boards.
Louisiana Tech routs FIU,75-42, takes C-USA lead
RUSTON, La. (AP) -- Raheem Appleby and Alex Hamilton each scored 14 points as Louisiana Tech roared past Florida International, 75-42, to earn its 20th win of the season and take over sole possession of first place in Conference USA Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (20-6, 11-2) entered Saturday tied with Western Kentucky atop the conference standings, but the Hilltoppers were upset by Marshall, 87-82.
Louisiana Tech held the Golden Panthers to just 15 first-half points and outscored them by 22 points in the second half.
Louisiana Tech shot 47.5 percent from the field (28 of 59) and was 8 of 23 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' defense held Florida International to just 15 of 54 shooting (27.8 percent).
Dennis Maven scored 11 points and Adrian Diaz scored 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Florida International (12-13, 5-7).
Bingaya's late flurry helps Southern Miss top FAU 62-54
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) -- Norville Carey scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Matt Bingaya scored six of his 15 in the final three minutes on Saturday night to help Southern Miss beat Florida Atlantic 62-54 and snap a five-game losing streak.
Bingaya made 6 of 9 field goals and had three steals for Southern Miss (7-17, 2-11 Conference USA). Chip Armelin added 19 points for the Golden Eagles.
Marquan Botley scored seven straight, and assisted on the final bucket, during an 11-2 run which cut the Florida Atlantic (8-15, 1-11) deficit to 56-54 with 2:30 remaining.
Bingaya made a layup with 60 seconds to go and, after a stop on the other end, his dunk gave Southern Miss a six-point advantage 21 seconds later.
FAU, which missed its last five field goal attempts, has lost six straight and 10 of its last 11 games.
Botley led the Owls with 18 points.
North Texas rallies to beat Middle Tennessee 57-56
DENTON, Texas (AP) -- DeAndre Harris sank the game-winning free throw and Jordan Williams led with 16 points as North Texas rallied from a 21-point second-half deficit to beat Middle Tennessee 57-56 on Saturday night.
Trailing by 19 early in the second quarter, North Texas rallied on a 15-5 run to pull within nine points, 48-39, with 8:14 to play. The Mean Green (11-13, 5-7 Conference USA) closed to within three points on a jumper by T.J. Taylor with 1:13 left and went ahead 55-54 on a pair of Colin Voss free throws with 16 seconds to go.
Reggie Upshaw drained a layup to give Middle Tennessee a one-point edge but Harris drew the foul and sank both shots in the final seconds for the win.
Voss finished with 10 points for North Texas and Harris had nine.
Upshaw led the Blue Raiders (13-13, 6-7) with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Guercy, Gearhart lead Rice past UAB, 82-73, in double OT
HOUSTON (AP) -- Max Guercy scored nine of his 21 in the second overtime, and Seth Gearhart finished with a career-high 32 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help Rice beat UAB 82-73 on Saturday night.
Guercy added a career-high 10 assists and Gearhart -- who made 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 12 of 13 free throws -- grabbed 10 rebounds.
Andrew Drone had 12 points for Rice (9-15, 6-6 Conference USA), which won its third in a row.
UAB (13-12, 9-3) led 73-71 in the second overtime before Guercy scored nine straight to put the game away.
Rice trailed 70-63 with 58 seconds left in the first overtime, but Bishop Mency and Marcus Jackson each hit a 3-pointer during an 8-0 run over the next 45 seconds.
UAB's Tyler Madison made 1 of 2 free throws with six second left, forcing a second overtime.
Robert Brown led UAB with 20 points.
UTEP handles Old Dominion 62-47
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- Earvin Morris and Julian Washburn scored 15 points apiece and UTEP made its free throws down the stretch to beat Old Dominion 62-47 on Saturday.
Old Dominion (18-6, 7-5 Conference USA) is 5-5 since being nationally ranked in early January.
Both teams started slowly, with ODU holding a 6-5 lead a little more than five minutes in. Julian Washhburn's 3-pointer put UTEP up 15-11 with nine minutes left in the half, and then the Miners outscored ODU 13-8 to lead 28-19 at the break. The Monarchs made just seven baskets before intermission.
A pair of Aaron Bacote free throws with 3:02 left cut the deficit to six. But with JMU forced to foul, UTEP responded by making 12 of 14 from the line in the last 2:42 to hold on going away.
Old Dominion shot 31 percent and just 3 of 16 beyond the arc.
UTEP (18-7, 10-3) moves one game behind conference leader Louisiana Tech.
