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MTSU men pick up much-needed win at Southern Miss




MTSU's C.J. Jones led MTSU with 13 point in a 61-53 win at Southern Mississippi on Saturday. MTSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

MTSU’s C.J. Jones led MTSU with 13 point in a 61-53 win at Southern Mississippi on Saturday. MTSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — MTSU’s men picked up a must win Saturday afternoon, shutting down the Southern Miss offense for much of the contest to collect a 61-53 victory.

Junior C.J. Jones led all scorers with 18 points, knocking down 3 of 5 attempts from downtown while dishing out three assists and getting two steals. Donovan Sims joined Jones in double figures with 11 and Jayce Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with six points, eight rebounds and a team-high four assists.

As a team, the Raiders swiped 10 steals and forced 18 turnovers while holding USM to the lowest point total by a Division I opponent this season.

“We did a lot of good things today,” MTSU coach Nick McDevitt said. “Road wins are tough to come by, but we did a really nice job on the defensive end and that shows in the final score.

“Southern Miss scored on 10 of their first 13 possessions to start the game, but we got stops on 10 of the last 14 possessions before half and pretty much shut them down from that point on.”

MTSU got off to a good start, connecting on two of its first three trips down the floor to take a 5-2 lead. Southern Miss fired right back, however, with a 10-0 run that appeared to put the Golden Eagles in control early.

The Blue Raiders refused to allow it to become a double-digit game, getting a bucket just before the under 12 media timeout and using that momentum to open a 13-0 run of its own while holding USM scoreless for six and a half minutes to reclaim the lead at 24-19.

The Golden Eagles finally got a basket to go to stop the bleeding before entering the final media timeout of the first half and would later cut their deficit to one. Jones wouldn’t let it stay a one-point game for long, though, burying a deep three the Raiders’ next trip down the court to make the score 27-23.

Jones and fellow wing Antonio Green closed the half out strong, scoring three more each in the final minute and 20 seconds to combine for 20 before the break as MTSU took a 33-25 lead into the locker room.

Southern Miss came out of the break with some fire, quickly making it a one-point game again with a 7-0 run in under two minutes, prompting McDevitt to call a timeout to settle his squad.

Settle they did, as a 12-2 stretch fueled by eight points from Sims saw the Blue Raiders open their first double-digit advantage of the game.

Trailing 49-36 and having gone without a field goal for over seven minutes, the Golden Eagle offense and crowd finally began to wake up as 7-0 run spanning less than 90 seconds cut it back down to a two-possession game.

McDevitt’s squad continued to battle down the stretch, answering the 7-0 run immediately with a turnaround jumper by Jones.

Southern Miss closed the gap to five at 56-51 out of the final media, but a putback by Tyler Millin once again made it a three-possession game with under three minutes remaining.

As the clock ticked towards two minutes, Jones cleared things out on the right wing and confidently drilled an NBA range 3-pointer that stretched the lead back to 10 points.

Green, a Tupelo native playing for the final time in his home state of Mississippi, finished with nine points and three assists. Reggie Scurry added seven points and six rebounds while Millin logged six points and five boards.

“It felt good to play one last game in my home state, but it felt even better to get the win,” Green said. “The reality of our situation, though, is that we have to keep winning to stay alive. We’ve got to keep believing in ourselves, keep playing hard, and get right back to work in practice.”

MTSU stays alive with the road win against the Golden Eagles, but will need more wins in Bonus Play to keep their Conference USA Championship hopes alive.

Their next opportunity comes on Sunday, March 1, when the Rice Owls host the Blue Raiders in Houston.

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