Conference USA Basketball Round-Up: November 8
Eastern Kentucky beats FIU 83-61
KENNESAW, Ga. (AP)
-- Glenn Cosey led four players in double figures with 17 points, and Eastern Kentucky cruised to an 83-61 victory over Florida International on Friday in the Kennesaw State Invitational.
Eastern Kentucky hit five of six 3-pointers to take an early 20-12 lead and pushed it to 45-24 at the half. FIU went on a 15-4 run to cut it to 57-44 with 11:45 remaining, but FIU only made one field goal in the final three minutes.
The Colonels forced 14 turnovers, 10 from steals, and held FIU to 20-for-57 shooting.
The loss spoiled the head coaching debut of Anthony Evans for the Panthers. Last year's leading scorer, Tymell Murphy (14.6), finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He ranked 16th nationally in FG percentage a year ago. FIU has 11 newcomers and is now a member of the Conference USA.
Eastern Kentucky won a school-record 25 games last season.
— Associated Press
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North Texas Escapes Upset Bid, Opens With 72-67 Win
DENTON, TX
- Alzee Williams and Brandan Walton combined for 35 points as North Texas fought off an upset bid from Northwood, 72-67, in the Mean Green's season-opener Friday night at the Super Pit.
Williams had a game-high 22 points, 16 in the second half, including a three-point play with seven seconds to play and two game-icing free throws with two seconds remaining. Walton, in his return from a season-ending injury suffered in last year's opener, scored 13 points, including a three-point play with 3:51 to play that gave the Mean Green a 62-55 lead.
But the tenacious Knights (0-1) played aggressively all night and refused to fold, battling back every time North Texas (1-0) opened a little breathing room. Northwood drew within one at 65-64 before Colin Voss, a transfer from Northern Oklahoma who struggled in his Mean Green debut much of the night, calmly sank a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left, then Williams closed out the win.
"I thought we were out of character a little," North Texas coach Tony Benford said. "We didn't do a good job keeping them out of transition, and we didn't execute on offense. We've got to get better attacking the zone. We're going to see it a lot."
Chris Jones also scored in double figures for North Texas with 13, and Jordan Williams added nine.
Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first half. North Texas hit just 35 percent (13 of 37) but enjoyed a considerable edge on the boards, out-rebounding Nortwood 31-19. The Knights, meanwhile, were good on just 31 percent of their shots from the floor (10-of-32) but made up the difference at the free-throw line and with five steals and three blocked shots to fuel a productive fast break.
The Mean Green held an early eight-point lead before Northwood took its first lead of the game, 26-25. North Texas quickly retook the lead but could not shake the Knights, taking a slim 35-33 lead into halftime.
— MeanGreenSports.com
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Missouri St beats Old Dominion in overtime, 79-67
NORFOLK, Va. (AP)
-- Jarmar Gulley and Marcus Marshall scored 18 points each to lead Missouri State to a 79-67 overtime win over Old Dominion on Friday Night.
Gulley, who missed the 2012-13 season with a knee injury, went 6 for 10, with a 3-pointer and nine rebounds in his return. Marshall pushed the game into overtime with two late free throws. Austin Ruder had 14 points for the Bears (1-0).
Aaron Bacote scored 28 points for the Monarchs (0-1) and got help from Richard Ross (14 points) and Dimitri Batten (12) to keep the game close.
Regulation play ended in a 63-63 tie, but the Bears outscored the Monarchs 16-4 in the OT.
— Associated Press
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Marshall beats SC State 85-69
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP)
-- Elijah Pittman scored 31 points and Ryan Taylor grabbed 10 rebounds Friday night to lift Marshall over South Carolina State 85-69 in the season opener for both teams.
Pittman hit one of his five 3-pointers at the 8:28 mark of the first half to give Marshall a 23-21 lead and the Thundering Herd never trailed again, forcing 18 turnovers that produced 23 points. Taylor added 17 points for Marshall and Kareem Canty added 15 and five assists.
Matthew Hezekia led the Bulldogs with 19 points and was their only player in double figures.
South Carolina State kept the game close well into the first half but got worn down by turnovers and a Marshall defense that made 12 steals and eight blocked shots. The Bulldogs also committed 29 fouls that resulted in 26 points from the line for Marshall.
— Associated Press
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Florida Atlantic dominates Ave Maria 86-51
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP)
-- Jackson Trapp had a career-high 23 points to lead Florida Atlantic to a dominating 86-51 win over Ave Maria Friday.
Trapp, who had 18 points in the first half, was five of 12 on 3-point shots, totaling nine for 20 shots from the field. Pablo Bertone, who contributed 16 points, hit three of six from 3-point range.
The Owls started fast as Bertone nailed his first 3-point attempt to open the scoring. The Owls never looked back, stretching their lead to 20-8 midway in the first half. They went into the break holding a 44-23 advantage.
The Gyrenes scored the first five points in the second half to close the gap to 44-27 and kept the Owls from scoring until Trapp made a layup with 17:30 remaining.
Richard Morrow and Marquan Botley came off the bench to score 12 each for FAU.
Matt Chattin had 11 points for Ave Maria.
— Associated Press
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Charlotte beats East Tennessee State 80-75
CHARLOTTE, NC (AP)
-- Mike Thorne Jr. and Pierria Henry each had 17 points on Friday night to help lift Charlotte over East Tennessee State 80-75.
Thorne's offensive rebound and layup at 7:50 in the first half put the 49ers up 21-18 and they never trailed again despite a strong effort by Kinard Gadsen-Gilliard, who came off the bench to lead the Buccaneers with 31 points and five rebounds.
Charlotte out-rebounded the Buccaneers 45 to 35 and had 12 steals and four blocked shots. The 49ers led 34-31 at the half and extended their lead to seven on a pair of free-throws by Terence Williams, a dunk by Thorne and a layup by Willie Clayton.
East Tennessee State out-shot Charlotte from the field 42.6 percent to 39.7 percent, and hit seven of 19 3-pointers compared with Charlotte's two of 17. But the Buccaneers committed 29 fouls and Charlotte scored 28 points from the line.
— Associated Press
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Pirates Shoot Down NC Wesleyan In Season Opener
GREENVILLE, N.C.
- Paris Roberts-Campbell scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, as the East Carolina defeated North Carolina Wesleyan, 97-51, on opening night Friday inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Roberts-Campbell shot 8-fof-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range to go along with four steals on the defensive end. Akeem Richmond added 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and handed out three assists in 23 minutes.
"We shared the ball pretty well and passed the ball pretty well," said Pirate head coach Jeff Lebo. "I thought they made us defend for long periods of time, which is hard, but I thought we did some good things. We saw some positive things and some things we need to work on."
In his first-collegiate game, Brandan Stith recorded a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field to go along with a game-high five steals on the defensive end.
NC Wesleyan jumped ahead scoring the first six points following the opening ti and lead 9-3 at the first media timeout. However, the Pirates responded with a 31-3 run of their own following to surge ahead 34-12. ECU continued to push ahead, before running to the locker rooms with a 42-20 lead at the intermission.
East Carolina shot 16-of-33 (.485) in the first half compared to NC Wesleyan's 7-of-24 (.292) performance, while Roberts-Campbell's 17 points came on 6-of-10 shooting, which included three buckets from beyond the arc. Marshall Guilmette pulled down nine of his career-high 11 boards in just 11 first-half minutes.
The Pirates didn't take their foot of the pedal in the second half, in what turned into a shooting clinic. ECU shot 22-of-34 (.647) from the field in the period, including a scorching 7-of-11 (.636) from downtown after making just 3-of-13 in the first half.
East Carolina's largest lead of the game was 48, and in addition to the hot shooting performance, the defense was equally as impressive, as they outrebounded the Bishops, 50-31, while forcing them into 16 turnovers and holding their opponent to 18-of-57 (.316) shooting in the game.
The Pirates' received plenty of production from the bench. In addition to Stith's performance, freshman Caleb White chipped in 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, junior college transfer Antonio Robinson dished out a game-high six assists without committing a turnover and senior Peter Torlak was perfect on all three of his attempts from three-point land to finish with nine points and three assists.
The Pirates will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to UNC Greensboro for a 7 p.m., opening tip on Nov. 12 at the Greensboro Coliseum. East Carolina will return home Thursday, Nov. 14, when it hosts Chowan at 7 p.m.
— ECUPirates.com
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UAB defeats Columbus St. 76-56
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)
-- CJ Washington led all scorers with 17 points as the University of Alabama-Birmingham defeated Columbus State 76-56 in an exhibition game Friday night.
It is the second game in a row where Washington, in his first season at UAB, has led all Blazers in scoring. He was 6 of 11 and hit two 3-pointers.
UAB hit three of its first five shots before CSU responded with six of the game's next eight points to cut the Blazer lead to one. Chad Frazier and Jordan Swing then hit back-to-back threes, and Washington made two free throws as the Blazers pulled to a 17-8 lead. The Cougars never got closer.
Four players were in double figures for the Blazers. Frazier added ten assists to go along with his 12 points.
Shane Heyward led the Cougars with 10 points.
— Associated Press
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Southern Miss defeats Jackson State 67-51
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP)
-- Daveo Boardingham scored 15 points and pulled down 9 rebounds to lead Southern Mississippi to a 67-51 win over Jackson State Friday.
Boardingham was only 4 of 8 from the field, but hit 7 of 11 free throws. Aaron Brown, 12 points, and Jerrold Brooks, 11 points, were also in double digits for the Golden Eagles.
Jackson State battled for the lead in the first half and took it for a 31-28 advantage at the break. The Golden Eagles were shooting only 32% in the first half. That changed in the second as they were 9 for 20 (45%). They tied the score at 35 with 16:49 remaining, and then gradually pulled away.
Southern Miss outscored Jackson State 39-20 in the second half. The Tigers went the other direction as they dropped to 27% shooting in the final half.
Javeres Brent led Jackson State with 11 points.
— Associated Press
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Tulane drops NJ Institute of Technology 75-64
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Jay Hook and Tre Drye had their first career double-doubles to lead Tulane to a 75-64 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology Friday night.
Hook, starting for the first time, scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Drye totaled 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Highlanders stayed even with Tulane in the first half. A layup by Daquan Holiday gave them a 13-9 lead with 11:20 remaining in the first period. NJIT held a 19-17 advantage with 8:06 remaining in the first period. Cameron Reynolds hit a 3-point jumper as the Green Wave regained the lead 20-19. They never trailed after that, going into the break ahead of 35-31. The Green Wave gradually increased the lead in the second period. The Highlanders did make a late run to pull within six with 2:59 remaining.
Damon Lynn led the way for the Highlanders, scoring 21 points.
— Associated Press
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Waldow leads Saint Mary's past La Tech, 83-70
MORAGA, Calif. (AP)
-- Brad Waldow pumped in 28 points to lead Saint Mary's to an 83-70 win over Louisiana Tech in a season opener Friday night.
Waldow, Stephen Holt and Beau Levesque, who all averaged in double figures a year ago as the Gaels reached the NCAA tournament, picked up where they left off against the Bulldogs. Holt had 18 in the opener and Levesque added another 11.
Raheem Appleby led three players in double figures for Louisiana Tech, tossing in 18 points. Chris Anderson added 15 and Alex Hamilton 11.
The Gaels offense was potent, shooting 52.7 percent from the floor (29 for 55) and 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
Louisiana Tech trailed by two, 46-44, with 16 minutes left, but managed just two points over the next four minutes to fall behind by 10.
— Associated Press