Conference USA Tournament Recaps

Birmingham, AL (SportsNetwork.com) – DJ Jones scored a game-high 17 points off the bench as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders held off the Miners of Texas-El Paso, 53-50, in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament at Legacy Arena.

Jones made good on 4-of-6 shots behind the 3-point line for the Middle Tennessee (19-15), the six seed in the tourney. Perrin Buford and Reggie Upshaw added 10 points apiece, the latter clearing seven rebounds in the triumph.

With the victory the Blue Raiders will now take on the winner of the UAB/Louisiana Tech meeting in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

Second-seeded UTEP (22-10) was led by Cedrick Lang with 14 points and eight boards, followed by Julian Washburn with 12 points. Vince Hunter filled in his stat line with nine points, 14 rebounds and six assists, but he shot only 4- of-13 behind the 3-point line and had to deal with foul trouble in the final minutes.

Middle Tennessee shot a mere 30.0 percent from the floor in the first half, which included just 2-of-11 beyond the arc, allowing the Miners to move out to a 25-20 advantage at the break.

Trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, the Blue Raiders bounced back following the break by hitting on 6-of-11 on the perimeter and at the same time holding UTEP to just 2-of-10 shooting on the outside, en route to the narrow three-point victory.

Middle Tennessee came out on top despite shooting only 35.8 percent from the field and 53.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball