Middle Tennessee dominates Florida Atlantic 77-54

BACO RATON, Fla. (AP) Jaqawn Raymond and Reggie Upshaw Jr. had 20 points apiece to lead Middle Tennessee to a dominating 77-54 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

Upshaw was 8 of 13 from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds, Giddy Potts had 12 points, Jacquez Rozier added 11 and Perrin Buford chipped in 10 for Middle Tennessee (16-15, 9-9 Conference USA).

Middle Tennessee advances to the Conference USA tournament, beginning March 11 in Birmingham, Alabama, as the No. 6 seed. FAU did not qualify for the tournament.

The Blue Raiders led throughout and were ahead 38-21 at the break. Florida Atlantic made a run midway of the second half to cut the lead to 46-38. Reggie Upshaw answered with a jumper and three-point play to start an 11-0 run and coasted home.

Solomon Poole had 16 points for Florida Atlantic (9-20, 2-16), which has lost 12 of the last 13.