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          Middle Tennessee rallies from down 19, beats FIU 70-67

          Mar 2, 2017
          • Associated Press

          MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- JaCorey Williams scored 23 points, Giddy Potts had 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Middle Tennessee rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Florida International 70-67 on Thursday night.

          Reggie Upshaw had 11 points and eight rebounds for Middle Tennessee (26-4, 16-1 Conference USA), which has won six in a row.

          The Blue Raiders missed their first six shots and committed six of their 10 turnovers in the first seven minutes as FIU (6-24, 2-15), which made eight of its first 10 field-goal attempts, opened the game with a 20-1 run. The Panthers led 30-13 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half, but Potts hit a 3 and then a jumper before Williams scored eight points during 17-5 spurt that pulled Middle Tennessee within five about six minutes later.

          Williams converted a 3-point play and then hit a jumper to give the Blue Raiders their first lead, 46-44, with 12:20 remaining and FIU trailed the rest of the way. A 3 by Potts made it 65-58 with 4:28 to go and, despite going scoreless over the next 4:10, Middle Tennessee hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 18 seconds to hold on.

          Eric Nottage led the Panthers with 28 points.