Conference USA Tournament Recaps

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Brandan Walton netted 17 points and hit 4- of-12 from 3-point range as the 10th-seeded North Texas Mean Green barely edged the 15th-seeded Rice Owls, 63-62, in an overtime contest in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament at Don Haskins Center.

A pair of Chris Jones free throws with 11 seconds left in the overtime period gave North Texas (16-15) the one-point advantage, which would hold up as the final. Colin Voss scored 16 points with nine rebounds, and Jordan Williams tallied a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards for the Mean Green, who advance to play seventh-seeded Tulane on Wednesday.

Austin Ramljak notched 17 points and five rebounds for Rice (7-23), which has lost eight straight games. Sean Obi netted 12 points with nine rebounds, and Seth Gearhart contributed 11 in the defeat.

Rice shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half, and hit 5-of-11 from 3- point range to help the Owls take a 30-21 halftime advantage over North Texas. The Mean Green connected on 34.8 percent of their shots in the frame, and missed all six 3-point tries.

The Owls slipped down to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half, but did connect on 10-of-17 from the free-throw line. North Texas was able to catch up to Rice thanks to 35.7 percent shooting in the period, and 12-of-15 from the charity stripe. Jones’ heroics weren’t just confined to the overtime period. With 23 seconds left to play in regulation, Jones netted a pair of free throws to knot the game at 56-56. A missed jumper from Rice with three seconds left wouldn’t fall, and the game went into the extra period.

The overtime was a tight match, and the Mean Green hit just 1-of-5 from the floor in the additional five minutes. But North Texas was able to sink 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, including Jones’ two game-winning free throws.

The Mean Green outscored Rice from the foul line, 21-14, and had the edge in rebounding, 45-38. The Owls outscored North Texas from 3-point range, 30-12.

Final Score: Marshall 63, FAU 59

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Chris Thomas scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the 14th-seeded Marshall Thundering Herd narrowly edged out the 11th-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls, 63-59, in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament at Don Haskins Center.

Kareem Canty netted 12 points for Marshall (11-21), which will move on to face sixth-seeded Old Dominion in the second round of the C-USA Tournament on Wednesday. Ryan Taylor added eight points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the win.

Marquan Botley scored a game-high 26 points, connecting on 5-of-9 from 3-point range for FAU (10-22), while Pablo Bertone chipped in 21 points but turned the ball over six times in the defeat. Kelvin Penn grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Owls.

Marshall connected on 40 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half, including 3-of-12 from 3-point range, and took a 35-29 lead into the intermission. FAU shot 47.6 percent from the floor, but made four fewer attempts than Marshall in the frame.

The Herd dropped their shooting accuracy down to 35.7 percent in the second half, adding just 2-of-8 from 3-point distance. The Owls hit 37.5 percent from the floor, and went 10-of-14 from the free-throw line, but could only shave off two points from Marshall’s first-half lead.

Marshall had the advantage in points in the paint, 24-14, and in bench points, 17-4.

Final Score: East Carolina 79, UTSA 76

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Akeem Richmond netted 36 points and buried a league-record 11 3-pointers to lead his 12th-seeded East Carolina Pirates past the 13th-seeded Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, 79-76, in a Conference USA Tournament first-round matchup at the Don Haskins Center.

All of Richmond’s field goals were from 3-point distance, as the guard connected on 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to round out his scoring. Paris Campbell chipped in 20 points for the Pirates (17-15), who overcame an 18-point deficit in the first half to take the lead in the second period. East Carolina advances to the second round of the C-USA Tournament to take on fifth-seeded Texas-El Paso on Wednesday.

Devon Agusi scored 21 points to pace UTSA (8-22), while Jordan Sims contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Phillip Jones netted 11 points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and dished out five assists, and Edrico McGregor scored 11 points of his own. Keon Lewis rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Roadrunners with 10 points in the loss.

UTSA shot an impressive 65.4 percent from the floor in the first half, hitting 6-of-10 from 3-point range and taking a 47-38 lead into the intermission. East Carolina connected on 44 percent of its field goal tries in the frame, and made 7-of-16 from deep.

The Pirates mounted a furious second-half comeback on 55 percent shooting from the field, hitting 7-of-13 from distance and 12-of-20 from the charity stripe. The Roadrunners went bitterly cold, netting just 30.8 percent of their attempts in the period, allowing ECU to take control and steal away the lead.

East Carolina outscored UTSA from the free-throw line, 21-14, and from 3-point range, 42-36. The Roadrunners had the edge in points in the paint, 22-10.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball