Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss secured the last two spots in the 12-team field of the C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by MetroPCS with wins on Saturday.
 
Rice snapped Louisiana Tech’s seven-game win streak with an 88-81 victory that also gave the Owls their first 20-win season since 2003-04. That result also secured at least a share of the C-USA regular-season title for Middle Tennessee and the No. 1 seed.
 
UTEP and Old Dominion added to their own win streaks, holding on to their tie for third place in the C-USA standings as the two teams are set up to go head-to-head on Thursday night. Marshall and Charlotte, who combined for more than 200 points in their earlier meeting this season, had another big offensive night as the Herd claimed a 93-89 victory.
 
Conference USA men’s basketball action resumes Sunday as UAB hosts (RV) Middle Tennessee for a 1 p.m. ET/noon CT tip on CBS Sports Network.
 
Standings/Results [PDF]
 
Statistics [PDF]
 
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Southern Miss 76, at North Texas 53
Marshall 93, at Charlotte 89
UTEP 90, at FIU 76
at Florida Atlantic 73, UTSA 66
at Old Dominion 67, WKU 53
at Rice 88, Louisiana Tech 81
 
SHOOTING STARS

• OLD DOMINION 67, WKU 53: Sophomore Ahmad Caver (Atlanta, Ga.) tossed in four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and six assists to lead the Monarchs in a 67-53 victory over visiting WKU. With their fourth-straight win and seventh in their last nine contests, it kept the Monarchs in a tie for third-place in the C-USA standings. The Hilltoppers were the 13^th opponent that ODU has held to under 60 points in a game this season. B.J. and Brandan Stith (Lawrenceville, Va.) combined for 24 points. Senior transfer Pancake Thomas (Baton Rouge, La.) led WKU with 17 points.
• Quotable: “This was a terrific win for our team. It is always nice to end the home schedule on a positive note. This was also an awesome crowd for our seniors. I am happy for all of our guys, but especially Jordan Baker and Denzell Taylor.” – Old Dominion head coach Jeff Jones

 

• UTEP 90, FIU 76: UTEP posted its fifth-straight win as junior Matt Willms (Leamington, Ontario) scored 23 points, hitting 10-of-13 shots from the field, in a 90-76 decision over FIU. Seniors Dominic Artis (San Francisco, Calif.) and Omega Harris (Bethany, Okla.) added 21 and 19 points, respectively. UTEP shot a season-high 67.3 percent from the field, including 72 percent in the second half. The Miners have won 11 of their last 13 games to remain in a tie for third place in the C-USA standings. On FIU Senior Night, senior Donte McGill (Newark, Del.) led the Panthers with 18 points. McGill needs just six more points to become the seventh Panther to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Quotable: “This team is playing better than last year’s team at any point right now. They are playing together, they are playing inspired, and they are playing Miner basketball. We are playing for third place Thursday night against a team that has really, really improved in the last two weeks of the season. They are scoring at a high clip, a great defensive club and it will be a real tough test for us.” – UTEP head coach Tim Floyd

 

• RICE 88, LOUISIANA TECH 81:  Rice snapped Louisiana Tech’s seven-game win streak and posted its first 20-win season (20-9) with an 88-81 decision on Saturday night. Owl sophomore Marcus Evans (Chesapeake, Va.) poured in 26 points, going 15-of-16 at the free throw line. Evans became the 12^th player in school history with 1,000 points, 200 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals in a season. Redshirt junior Marcus Jackson (Acton, Calif.) added 11 points, including the 1,000^th of his career. Junior G Jacobi Boykins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) scored a team-high 17 points to lead five LA Tech players in double-figures.

 

• MARSHALL 93, CHARLOTTE 89: Marshall senior Stevie Browning (Logan, W.Va.) and junior Jon Elmore (Charleston, W.Va.) combined for 51 points in a 93-89 victory at Charlotte. Browning, who missed the Herd’s last game with an injury, came back to toss in 27 points. Elmore added 26 points and seven assists, while senior forward Ryan Taylor (Indianapolis) collected his 38th career double-double from 15 points and 13 boards. Ajdin Penava (Bosnia) collected his second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomores Anthony Vanhook (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Andrien White (Richmond, Va.) led the 49ers with 21 and 18 points, respectively.
• Quotable: “When you win a game like this, sometimes something will click. We’re going home for two good games. If we win two games, hopefully our mojo will be back and we’ll be a little more fluid. We can take this thing. We just need to be back to who we are.” – Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni

 

• FLORIDA ATLANTIC 73, UTSA 66: FAU senior G Adonis Filer (Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench to contribute 20 points in a 73-66 victory over UTSA that secured the Owls an invite to the C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship. FAU made a 10-2 run to start the second half and led by as many as 15 points. Sophomore G Nick Rutherford (Allen, Texas) added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Owls. Freshman Giovanni De Nicolao (Padua, Italy) led four UTSA student-athletes in double-figures with 15 points. De Nicolao went 6-of-10 from the floor and added a pair of steals, a block and a rebound to his stat line to lead the Roadrunners. Junior G Gino Littles (Phoenix, Ariz.) added 14 points and six rebounds, while Jeff Beverly (League City, Texas) and freshman Byron Frohnen (Las Vegas, Nev.) each finished with 11 points.

 

• SOUTHERN MISS 76, NORTH TEXAS 53: Southern Miss picked up a 76-53 road win at North Texas to secure its bid to the C-USA Basketball Championship. Senior Quinton Campbell (Wilmer, Ala.) registered his third double-double of the season to pace the Golden Eagles with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Campbell was 10-of-13 from the field and 10 of his 13 rebounds were off the defensive glass. Senior Michael Ramey (Indianapolis) scored a career-high 19 points, with six 3-pointers, while junior Eddie Davis III (Las Vegas, Nev.) added 17 points. North Texas has been mathematically been eliminated from the 12-team tournament field, but freshman A.J. Lawson (Bryan, Texas) also posted a double-double of 17 points and 10 boards. Senior F Derail Green (Houston, Texas) also pitched in 17 points for the Mean Green.
• Quotable: "It was great to go into that locker room after the game. They were so excited, and to also be able to tell [seniors] Quinton Campbell, Michael Ramey and Raheem Watts that they are going to the tournament and nobody can take that away from them and that nobody gave it to them." – Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler

 
 
C-USA UPCOMING SCHEDULE
(All times Central)
 
Sun., February 26
Middle Tennessee at UAB (CBSSN) - 12:00p

Thu., March 2
Florida Atlantic at UAB (CUSA.tv) - 6:00p
Rice at Marshall (CUSA.tv) - 6:00p
FIU at Middle Tennessee (ESPN3) - 6:30p
Charlotte at UTSA (CUSA.tv) - 7:00p
North Texas at WKU (FCS) - 7:00p
Old Dominion at UTEP (beIN SPORTS) - 7:00p

Conference games in BOLD.

 
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2016-17 C-USA Men's Basketball Fact Book

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