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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee men’s basketball team scored the first 13 points of the contest and held the University of South Alabama to 28.6 percent shooting in an 85-50 win Thursday night at the Murphy Center.

The Blue Raiders win their 27th consecutive home game and move to 24-4 overall and 16-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars see their four-game win streak snapped and fall to 15-10 and 12-5.

“We just didn’t play well,” interim USA head coach Jeff Price said. “You can’t come in and play a team like this, in this environment, and play poorly on both ends of the floor. You have to do one or the other and I thought we did not play well on either end. I’m more disappointed than anything in our defense.”

USA shot just 26.1 percent in the first half and had 14 turnovers before halftime. MTSU held the Jags to just one field goal over a 10-minute stretch and led by as much as 19 in the opening frame.

“We turned the ball over and our turnovers led to their easy baskets,” Price said. “When you come in here, you have to take care of the ball. We talked so much about throwing the first punch in this game—we know how well they do early in games—and we’re sitting there down 13-0. It’s just a big hole to climb out of here.”

Middle Tennessee made five of its first seven shots of the contest and capped off the game-opening 13-point run with a three-point play from Neiko Hunter. Meanwhile, the South Alabama went 0-for-4 and had five turnovers before senior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas) finally got the Jags on the board at the 14:30 mark.

The Blue Raiders went on a 12-2 run over a 3:21 span to take a 40-21 advantage and eventually led 41-26 at halftime.

In the second half it was all Middle Tennessee, who tallied a 23-6 spurt, capped off with back-to-back 3-pointers to lead by 36.

“I didn’t think we stayed in front of the ball well, I didn’t think we were good in our transition defense and we didn’t guard the rim like we have been,” Price said. “That has not been a normal pattern of our team and we just have to go back to work. We have a big game on Saturday; we have to get this one past us and move on to the next one.”

USA junior Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) recorded his 15th double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) shared game-high honors with 13 points before fouling out.

Anderson came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points, his first double-digit scoring game since Feb. 21, 2012.

Middle Tennessee placed five in double figures, led by Bruce Massey’s 12 points. Marcos Knight and Hunter had 11 points each, and Shawn Jones and Kerry Hammonds added 10 apiece.

South Alabama returns home Saturday to face North Texas at 7:05 p.m. The program will honor its four seniors in a ceremony before the game.

NOTES: Middle Tennessee has won the last four meetings in Murfreesboro by an average of 20.2 points… MTSU has won the last five in the series, with all but one being by 16 points or more… Rubit is tied for the league lead in double-doubles and has four in his last five outings… Rubit moved past Brandon Peterson of Arkansas State (idle tonight), Kannard Johnson of Western Kentucky (1983-87) and Reginald Poole of Louisiana at Lafayette (1994-99) into 12th place in Sun Belt history for career rebounds (844)… The Blue Raiders scored 33 points off turnovers… In addition to setting a new season high in points, Anderson tied his season best with three steals and assists apiece… MTSU shot 7-for-11 (63.6%) from 3-point land in the second half.

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

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