Middle Tennessee rolls to 76-54 win over Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) Giddy Potts scored 18 points with five rebounds as Middle Tennessee rolled to a 76-54 win over Southern Mississippi on Saturday night.

Edward Simpson added 19 points and Reggie Upshaw had 15 for the Blue Raiders (18-7, 10-3 Conference USA).

Southern Mississippi went 12-2 to start the first half and Michael Ramey sank three 3-pointers in the four minutes before the break to give the Golden Eagles (7-16, 4-8) a 32-27 lead at intermission.

Middle Tennessee opened the second half on a 21-8 run, featuring two 3-pointers by Potts, another by Xavier Habersham and dunks by Upshaw and Perrin Buford, to take a 48-40 lead with 11:59 to play. Later, Upshaw hit a 3-pointer and a dunk back-to-back followed by another 3 by Simpson and the Blue Raiders extended their lead to 61-46 with 8:15 remaining.

Kourtlin Jackson had 14 points for the Golden Eagles. Ramey finished with 12 points.