SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 80, SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 51

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Desmond Yates scored a game-high 25 points to lead Middle Tennessee in an 80-51 rout of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sunday.

Montarrio Haddock scored 19 and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, and Demetrius Green added 12 for the Blue Raiders (3-3). Yates was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Mark Yelovich, who was 3-for-6 from 3-point range, scored 15 points to lead the Cougars (2-7).

The Blue Raiders shot 45.1 percent from the field (32 of 71) compared to a 37.5 mark (18 of 48) for the Cougars.

Middle Tennessee dominated the boards, outrebounding SIU-Edwardsville 50-28 in the contest.

The Cougars led 22-18 with 7:06 to go in the first half, but the Blue Raiders blew the game open from there with a 21-2 run that put them up by 15 at halftime.

ALABAMA 61, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 44

TUSCALOOSA -- Senario Hillman scored 18 points and sparked the decisive run in Alabama's 61-44 victory over Louisiana at Lafayette on Sunday.

Louisiana-Lafayette (2-4) cut the lead to 39-35 with 11:55 left, before Hillman scored eight points during a 13-5 Alabama (5-2) run. The Hillman-led run gave the Crimson Tide a 52-38 lead with 8:11 left.

Hillman scored 16 of his points in the second half.

Alabama held the Ragin' Cajuns to 16.7 percent shooting (4 of 24) in the second half, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

Alonzo Gee scored 18 points for Alabama as Ronald Steele added 14 and Yamene Coleman grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Crimson Tide outrebounded Louisiana-Lafayette 49-35 with Hillman notching eight, and Gee and JaMychal Green adding seven each.

Travis Bureau led the Ragin' Cajuns with 16 points followed by Chris Gradnigo with 10.

SOUTH ALABAMA 93, HOUSTON BAPTIST 63

MOBILE, Ala. -- Domonic Tilford scored 19 points and South Alabama defeated Houston Baptist 93-63 on Sunday.

The Jaguars (6-3), who led by as many as 33 points, won their fourth straight.

South Alabama shot 50.7 percent from the field (32 of 63), including a 6 of 6 performance by Charles Tabet, who scored 17.

South Alabama led just 39-24 at halftime, before blowing the game open.

Houston Baptist (0-8) tried to stay in the game via the 3-point shot, but made just 11 of 27. Mario Flaherty was 4-for-4 from 3-point range, on the way to a 14-point night for the Huskies. Houston Baptist's Baron Sauls scored a game-high 20 points.

South Alabama outrebounded the Huskies 49-27, including 12 by De'Andre Coleman.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2008

AUBURN 78, ULM 55

AUBURN, Ala. -- Korvotney Barber scored 18 points to help Auburn rout Louisiana-Monroe 78-55 on Saturday.

Barber shot 8 of 11 from the field and also grabbed six rebounds for the Tigers (4-4), who led by as many as 16 points in the first half.

Kenneth Averette sparked a Louisiana-Monroe (2-4) run to cut the deficit to 58-48 with less than nine minutes remaining in the half, but the Tigers controlled the rest of the game.

Louisiana-Monroe shot 16 of 44 from the field (36.4 percent).

Tay Waller scored 15 points, DeWayne Reed added 14 points and Lucas Hargrove had 11 points for Auburn.

Malcolm Thomas scored 18 points and had eight rebounds for Louisiana-Monroe. Jarvis Hill added 17 points and Averette finished with 12 points.

BUFFALO 70, FIU 56

AMHERST, N.Y. -- Greg Gamble scored 12 points to lead Buffalo past Florida International, 70-56, Saturday.

John Smiler added 11 points for Buffalo. He came off the bench and scored eight-straight points in a two-minute span in the second half, including two three-pointers.

Michael Dominguez and Tremayne Russell led Florida International, scoring 13 points apiece. Nikola Gacesa added 12, and Freddy Asprilla scored 10.

The Bulls had a 35-26 lead at halftime, and Florida International went on a 7-0 run, making it a 37-33 game at 16:07 in the second.

Rodney Pierce capped a six-point run for Buffalo when he made a steal and layup with 14:28 left to play, making it 43-33 Buffalo. Buffalo widened the lead to 12 points when Gamble scored a three-pointer at 11:15, making it 50-38.

OLE MISS 78, NEW ORLEANS 65

NEW ORLEANS -- Chris Warren scored 29 points to lead Mississippi to a 78-65 win over New Orleans on Saturday.

David Huertas added 12 points and Terrico White 11 for the Rebels (6-2), who won for the fourth time in five games. Ole Miss also snapped the Privateers (2-5) two-game winning streak.

Kyndall Dykes scored 20 for New Orleans (2-5), who hadn't lost since Dykes returned from a sprained ankle that sidelined him for the Privateers' opening four games.

T.J. Worley added 12 for New Orleans, while Darrian McKinstry and Jaroslav Tyrna each scored 11 points.

New Orleans was as close as 58-57 with under eight minutes remaining when Ole Miss surged ahead with a 16-3 run, sparked by White's tip-in.

Ole Miss shot 10 of 20 from beyond the arc, with Warren going 5-for-8. The Rebels shot 53.2 percent for the game while holding New Orleans to 33 percent shooting.

WKU 82, TULANE 67

NEW ORLEANS -- Orlando Mendez-Valdez scored 23 points to lead Western Kentucky to an 82-67 victory over Tulane on Saturday.

Steffphon Pettigrew added 17 points as the Hilltoppers (5-2), who were 29 of 51 from the field (56.9 percent), won their fourth consecutive game.

Mendez-Valdez was 5 of 7 from the 3-point line and Western Kentucky was 12 of 17 from behind the arc (70.6 percent).

Daniel Puckett scored 21 points to lead Tulane (4-4).

The Hilltoppers led 41-28 at halftime and didn't allow the Green Wave closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Daniel Puckett led Tulane with 21 points and Kevin Sims added 10 points.

Sergio Kerusch scored 15 points, A.J. Slaughter had 12 points and Jeremy Evans added 10 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds for Western Kentucky.

NORTH TEXAS 85, NEW MEXICO STATE 83
DENTON, Texas -- Tristan Thompson scored 21 points and Collin Dennis added 20 points coming off the bench to lead North Texas to an 85-83 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday night.

North Texas (6-2) scored only two points and turned the ball over twice in the final three minutes. But the Aggies, who got the back with 28 seconds left trailing by two, never managed to get off a shot.

The Mean Green bench scored 46 points, including 16 from Eric Tramiel.

New Mexico State (2-4) had four players in double figures. Jahmar Young led the way with 19 points, while Troy Gillenwater and Jonathan Gibson each scored 15.

Wendell McKines finished with a double-double for the Aggies, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

MISSOURI STATE 52, ARKANSAS STATE 47

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Wade Knapp scored 15 points to lead Missouri State to a 52-47 win over Arkansas State on Saturday night.

Missouri State (4-2) took a five-point halftime lead and pushed it to 37-25 with 17:06 left. Arkansas State (6-2) then went on an 11-4 run to make it 41-36 with 10:06 left.

Baskets by Spencer Laurie and Ryan Jehle gave Missouri State a 46-36 lead with 7:19 remaining, but the Bears went cold. Arkansas State scored the next seven points and got to within three points, 50-47, with 1:45 to go.

The Red Wolves had a chance to tighten it up further but missed an open baseline jumper with 50 seconds left and Missouri State hit a basket to increase its lead back to five.

Chris Cooks had 12 points for Missouri State and Jehle finished with 10.

Donald Boone led Arkansas State with 20 points and McKinney added 11.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008

DENVER 67, UT-ARLINGTON 65

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Kyle Lewis hit a 15-foot jumper with two seconds remaining to give Denver a 67-65 win over Texas-Arlington on Friday night.

Lewis, who finished with 16 points, intercepted a long inbound pass at midcourt on UTA's final possession to set up the game-winning shot. Nate Rohnert scored 19 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Denver (1-5).

The Pioneers never trailed and went into halftime with a 35-25 lead. They held a 13-point lead midway through the second half, but the Mavericks (4-2) rallied when they switched from a zone defense to man-to-man.

Anthony Vereen hit two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for the first tie of the game, 65-65.

Vereen led UTA with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Roge'r Guignard finished with 13 points. The teams were playing in the inaugural Karl Tyler Chevrolet Classic.