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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee opened the second half with a 9-1 run and never looked back in an 85-62 win over the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at the Murphy Center.

The Blue Raiders win for the third straight game and the fifth time in their last six outings to go to 12-12 overall and 7-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars drop to 10-12, 4-7.

“As good as we played at Western Kentucky, I told our guys, ‘Champions win two on the road when they win the first one,” and we let it get away,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We didn’t execute and we had turnovers.”

MTSU’s Kerry Hammonds set a new career high and a school freshman scoring record with 28 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the floor. He hit five of his six 3-point attempts and had 21 points in the second half.

James Washington and Jason Jones added 13 and 11 points, respectively for the Blue Raiders.

USA redshirt freshman Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) set a new career high himself with 26 points and recorded 13 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Nine of his 13 boards came on the offensive end.

Senior Gary Redus (Decatur, Ala.) was the only other USA player in double-digit scoring with 10.

MTSU dominated the second half by shooting 66.7 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from 3-point territory. The defense did its part by holding USA to 31.8 percent overall. The Jaguars at one point went over eight minutes without a field goal.

“The halfcourt trap affected us—we had turnovers,” said Arrow. “We just didn’t have guys penetrating and doing what they have to do. Then we started forcing shots. We shot 60 percent in the first half and were down seven. We just didn’t guard anybody. You have to guard at this level and we didn’t do it.”

South Alabama got a free throw on its first possession after the break but saw Middle Tennessee run off nine straight, capped off with a 3-pointer from Hammonds, to stretch the lead to 15 (52-37).

The Jaguars answered with a lay-up from Rubit but the Blue Raiders hit right back with a jumper from Jones and USA would only get as close as 14 the rest of the way.

South Alabama found the going much easier in the first half, shooting 60 percent of its field goals, including 80 percent (4-5) from beyond the arc, but committed 12 turnovers and suffered a late shooting slump. USA went without a field goal in the final 2:19 after Rubit hit a jumper on three straight possessions.

“We just have to go back and work,” Arrow said. “We won one on the road and they say that when you win one on the road you’ve done good, so we have to protect our home court, which we haven’t done a good job of. We’ll have some time to prepare and get ready for Troy.”

South Alabama returns home to host in-state rival Troy Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: The loss is South Alabama’s worst since dropping a 97-70 decision at Louisville on Dec. 4… The Jaguars had not had a game decided by more than 12 points since Dec. 27 vs. Mobile (a span of 10 games)… USA has lost the last two games in the Murphy Center by a combined 50 points… Rubit is back in a tie for first in the Sun Belt in double-doubles… Redus’s 10 points are his fewest since scoring 32 points at Troy on Jan. 27—he was averaging 25 ppg over his last three games… The Jags have shot better than 50 percent in the first half in their last two games… USA has been outrebounded in two of its last three contests (1-2 record).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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