Middle Tennessee upends Old Dominion 59-52 in C-USA quarters

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Perrin Buford scored 17 points, Jaqawn Raymond added 13 and sixth-seeded Middle Tennessee upset third-seeded Old Dominion 59-52 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament on Thursday.

The Blue Raiders (18-15) hit 17 of 22 free throws in the second half to end Old Dominion's six-game winning streak and deny coach Jeff Jones his 400th career win. The Monarchs (24-7) made just 1 of their last 8 shots and were 5 of 13 from the line in the second half.

Middle Tennessee faces second-seeded UTEP in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Blue Raiders led 25-20 at the half but Jonathan Arledge had the first six points in an 8-0 run to put the Monarchs up 28-27. They eventually pushed the lead to seven but Jacquez Rozier had two free throws and a three-point play to ignite a 9-0 run to put Middle Tennessee up 51-46 with three minutes left.

Middle Tennessee hit 8 of 10 free throws from there.

Trey Freeman led Old Dominion with 24.