Burks’ 29 points leads Marshall past UTSA in C-USA tourney

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FRISCO, Texas (AP) C.J. Burks scored 29 points, Ajdin Penava posted a double-double and No. 4 seed Marshall beat fifth-seeded UT San Antonio 95-81 in a Conference USA Conference quarterfinal game Thursday night.

Marshall (22-10) advances to play No. 9 seed Southern Mississippi in a semifinal contest Friday night. The Golden Eagles upset top-seeded Middle Tennessee 71-68 in overtime Thursday.

The Thundering Herd built a 26-11 lead halfway through the first period and led 52-41 at intermission. Marshall made half its 32-shot attempts in the first half, sank all 13 free throws and Burks scored 18, making all nine of his free-throw attempts.

UTSA (19-14) got within striking distance with an 11-2 run that reduced its deficit to 74-69 on Giovanni De Nicolao's jumper with 7:19 left but got no closer. Penava scored 23 points with 12 rebounds and Jannson Williams and Jon Elmore each scored 15.

Nick Allen, Byron Frohnen and George Willborn III scored 16 apiece for the Roadrunners and Frohnen grabbed 13 rebounds. De Nicola and Keaton Wallace each scored 13.