Lots of close games today! FIU takes down UAB in a surprising upset (+12), and UNT overcomes a huge deficit to comeback against MTSU.

Finals Saturday, Jan 7th

Florida Atlantic 71, Charlotte 67

• Alijah Martin matched a career high with five made three-pointers on just nine attempts, resulting in a game-high 17 points as Florida Atlantic extended its win streak to 13 games on Saturday.

LA Tech 60, UTEP 58

• A hot start carried LA Tech to victory on Saturday as the Bulldogs converted 52.4 percent (11-21) of their shots in the first 20 minutes. Cobe Williams, who finished with 17, knocked down half his shots for 12 first-half points.

WKU 74, at UTSA 64

• WKU’s Jamarion Sharp overpowered UTSA with 11 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Hilltoppers to their first league victory.

North Texas 56, at Middle Tennessee 51

• North Texas’ defense forced 13 turnovers and limited the Middle Tennessee to just 14 points in the second as the Mean Green overcame a 19-point deficit to win their third straight.

FIU 90, UAB 87 (OT)

• Dashon Gittens saved his lone made field goal of the night for the biggest moment, laying it in in the final second of overtime to knock off UAB and complete a 2-0 week for FIU.

FIU completed a sweep of the Conference USA Men’s Basketball weekly honors as Denver Jones and Arturo Dean each earned their first award of the season. The 2022-23 C-USA Players of the Week awards are voted on by the league’s sports information directors.

Jones is the league’s Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points and extending his streak of 20-point performances to four games. Dean, the conference’s Freshman of the Week, averaged 15.5 points on 48.1 percent shooting to lift FIU (8-7, 2-2 C-USA) to consecutive C-USA wins over Top 100 NET opponents in Charlotte and reigning conference champion UAB.

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Florida Atlantic 77  FIU 73 (OT)

• The nation’s leader in bench points per game, Florida Atlantic got 44 points from its reserves, led by 17 from Johnell Davis and 12 each from Alijah Martin and Michael Forrest. Forrest scored seven points in overtime, including a dagger three with 12 seconds left.

Middle Tennessee 71  Rice 68

• Middle Tennessee’s starting lineup combined for 11 blocks, the most by a team in a conference game this season, as the Blue Raiders completed the season sweep against Rice. Justin Bufford matched his career high with a team-high four swats.

North Texas 67  LA Tech 65

• Kai Huntsberry knocked down a game-winning jumper in the final seconds to lift North Texas to its fourth-straight win. He and Rubin Jones each dished out five assists, helping the Mean Green to assists on 18 of their 23 made field goals.

UTEP 69  UTSA 57

• UTEP’s defense forced 21 turnovers and recorded 10 steals against UTSA on Wednesday, marking the first time the Miners have recorded 20 forced turnovers and 10 steals against a Division I opponent since 2019.

WKU 80  UAB 78

• WKU connected on half of its attempts from three-point range (10-20), including a make by Dontaie Allen to break a 73-73 tie with 29 seconds remaining. Dayvion McKnight shot 3-4 from three on his way to a team-high 27 points.

Saturday, Jan. 14


Charlotte 72  UTSA 54

• Charlotte’s Igor Milicic Jr. led the way with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals in a wire-to-wire victory as the 49ers maintained their perfect home record (8-0).

Florida Atlantic 66  North Texas 62

• Florida Atlantic completed the season sweep of North Texas and extended its winning streak to 15 games, tied for the eighth-longest in C-USA history, thanks to a team-high 16 points off the bench from Johnell Davis.

Rice 83  UTEP 82

• Travis Evee’s buzzer-beater lifted Rice over UTEP and gave him 21 points in the game. Quincy Olivari tallied a game-high 23 points, marking the second time this season both have gone for 20 or more in the same game.

UAB 81  LA Tech 74

• With Jelly Walker not in uniform on Saturday, Eric Gaines stepped up in his absence with season highs in points (22) and three-pointers made (four), along with six assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

WKU 70  FIU 59

• A balanced scoring effort including four in double-digits helped WKU to a third-straight win. Dayvion McKnight led the way with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

WKU’s Dayvion McKnight and FIU’s Arturo Dean earned Conference USA Men’s Basketball weekly honors. The 2022-23 C-USA Players of the Week awards are voted on by the league’s sports information directors.

McKnight grabs his second Player of the Week award after averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the Hilltoppers (11-6, 3-3 C-USA) in a road victory at UAB and a home win over FIU. In those two games, he shot 45.7 percent (16-35) from the field, including a 5-6 clip from three-point range.

Dean repeats as the Freshman of the Week following a week in which he averaged 14 points, a team-high 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 steals and 3.5 assists per game. He leads the conference and ranks among the top-15 in the nation in total steals (41) and steals per game (2.4) while averaging 12.5 points per game – good for second on the Panthers (8-9, 2-4 C-USA).

Monday, Jan. 16

UTEP 60  Charlotte 58

No. 24 Florida Atlantic 76  WKU 62

North Texas 64  FIU 57

Rice 88  UTSA 81 (OT)

Middle Tennessee 74  UAB 73 (OT)

Thursday, Jan. 19


Middle Tennessee 62  Charlotte 58

• Middle Tennessee’s defense tallied 12 steals and forced 21 turnovers against Charlotte, marking the sixth time this season the Blue Raiders posted at least 10 steals and 17 forced turnovers.

Rice 72  North Texas 60

• Rice’s 72 points were the most allowed by UNT to a C-USA opponent since a 73-72 loss to Marshall on Feb. 27, 2021. The Owls shot 53.2 percent from the field and 90.5 percent from the free-throw line.

No. 24 Florida Atlantic 83 UTSA 64

• Florida Atlantic matched its season high with 15 offensive rebounds, led by Vladislav Goldin with three. The Owls turned those into 23 second-chance points.

UTEP 81  FIU 61

• UTEP’s starting five combined for 53 points on 64.5 percent shooting (20-31). Otis Frazier scored 15 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field, and Shamar Givance also added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

LA Tech 86  WKU 74 (OT)

• LA Tech’s Isaiah Crawford Crawford scored all 13 points in the second half or overtime, including five in the overtime period as the Bulldogs outscored WKU 12-0 to pull away with the win.

Saturday, Jan. 21

FIU 77  UTSA 72

North Texas 63  UAB 52

MTSU 68  LA Tech 51

Charlotte 75  WKU 71

Florida Atlantic 67  UTEP 58

Home teams all won last night:

Thursday, Jan. 26

No. 21 Florida Atlantic 85  MTSU 67

FIU 78  WKU 69

Rice 65  Charlotte 63

UAB 65  LA Tech 59

North Texas 63  UTSA 59