Box Score
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—Middle Tennessee placed four players in double figures and the Blue Raiders shot 60 percent in the second half to pull away from UNCG for an 82-60 win in the EA Sports Maui Invitational Mainland Region, Saturday at Murphy Center.
UNCG next plays Towson in Sunday's consolation bracket at 2 p.m. The Tigers lost to Belmont, 87-41, earlier Saturday.
After playing perhaps their most competitive half of the season, the Spartans (1-3) trailed MTSU (4-0) by two points, 29-27, at halftime. But in the second half the Blue Raiders turned up the defensive pressure and started making shots.
MTSU tried to pull away early in the half, but the Spartans stayed in it. The Blue Raiders took a 39-31 lead with 16:16 left but UNCG cut the lead in half after a three-pointer by Nick Paulos and a free throw by Derrell Armstrong made it 44-40 with 14:03 left.
But MTSU responded with a 14-0 run over the next 4:02, forcing UNCG into seven turnovers during that span. A three-pointer by Raymond Cintron gave the Blue Raiders a 58-40 advantage with 10:02 to play. The Spartans never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
UNCG started the game strong, jumping out to a 21-12 advantage on an Aloysius Henry layup with 9:55 left before halftime. But much like would happen in the second half MTSU stifled the Spartans' offense and regained the lead before the break.
Henry led the Spartans with 12 points and seven rebounds. The senior center was 6-of-10 from the field and added two steals and two assists. Kyle Van Dussen chipped in with 11 points.
Marcos Knight led MTSU with 17 points, while J.T. Sulton added 16. Shawn Jones chipped in 12 points and Bruce Massey had 11.
The Spartans out-rebounded the Blue Raiders, 34-30, but also committed 23 turnovers and shot just 9-43 percent from the field.
The Blue Raiders shot 49 percent for the game, including 6-of-13 from 3-point range.
Free throws were a major factor in the outcome. UNCG was just 9-of-18 from the line while MTSU was 28-of-36.
Newspaper Box Score
UNC Greensboro vs Middle Tennessee
11/19/20 5:15 p.m. CT at Murphy Center - Murfreesboro, Tenn.
At Murphy Center - Murfreesboro, Tenn.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 82, UNC GREENSBORO 60
UNC GREENSBORO (1-3)
HENRY, Aloysius 6-10 0-1 12; VAN DUSSEN, Korey 3-6 4-4 11; SIMPSON, Trevis
3-10 0-0 7; ARMSTRONG, Derrell 3-7 1-2 7; PARKER, Drew 2-4 0-0 6; COLE,
Brian 2-2 0-0 5; WILLIAMS, David 0-1 4-10 4; PAULOS, Nick 1-2 0-0 3;
RANDALL, Kyle 1-5 0-1 3; BRACKETT, Aaron 1-1 0-0 2; HENEGAR, Cody 0-2 0-0 0;
ROBINSON, Demetrius 0-0 0-0 0; HOFFER, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0; BONE, Elhanan 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 22-51 9-18 60.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (4-0)
Knight, Marcos 4-8 8-10 17; Sulton, JT 4-9 8-10 16; Jones, Shawn 5-8 2-2 12;
Massey, Bruce 3-3 4-6 11; Dendy, LaRon 2-3 3-4 7; Cintron, Raymond 2-5 0-0
6; Gallman, James 2-5 1-2 6; Oden, Jimmy 1-1 0-0 3; Hammonds, Kerry 0-2 2-2
2; Rozier, Jacquez 1-4 0-0 2; Edmonson, Julian 0-1 0-0 0; Gibson, Zane 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 24-49 28-36 82.
UNC Greensboro................ 27 33 - 60
Middle Tennessee.............. 29 53 - 82
3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 7-21 (PARKER, Drew 2-4; VAN DUSSEN, Korey 1-3;
RANDALL, Kyle 1-3; PAULOS, Nick 1-1; SIMPSON, Trevis 1-4; COLE, Brian 1-1;
HENEGAR, Cody 0-2; HOFFER, Taylor 0-1; ARMSTRONG, Derrell 0-2), Middle
Tennessee 6-13 (Cintron, Raymond 2-4; Massey, Bruce 1-1; Oden, Jimmy 1-1;
Knight, Marcos 1-1; Gallman, James 1-3; Rozier, Jacquez 0-1; Edmonson,
Julian 0-1; Hammonds, Kerry 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-HENRY,
Aloysius; WILLIAMS, David, Middle Tennessee-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro
34 (HENRY, Aloysius 7), Middle Tennessee 30 (Knight, Marcos 7). Assists--UNC
Greensboro 10 (PARKER, Drew 4), Middle Tennessee 14 (Hammonds, Kerry 4).
Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 26, Middle Tennessee 19. Technical fouls--UNC
Greensboro-None, Middle Tennessee-None. A-5411
--UNCG--
