MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - Marcos Knight scored 15 points and Middle Tennessee extended its winning streak to seven games, beating Western Kentucky 72-53 on Saturday.
Neiko Hunter finished with 13 points for the Raiders (18-4, 10-1 Sun Belt Conference). Bruce Massey scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists and had four steals.
Middle Tennessee never trailed in the contest, going into halftime with a 30-23 lead. The Raiders had their lead trimmed to 42-36 in the second half when Western Kentucky's Kevin Kasper knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:01 left.
But Middle Tennessee distanced itself from the Hilltoppers (11-11, 5-6), outscoring them 19-3 over the next seven minutes to claim a 22-point advantage. Massey's layup with 5:43 remaining gave the Raiders a 63-40 lead - their largest of the game.
Kasper was the only Western Kentucky player to score in double figures with 14 points and four turnovers.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Western Kentucky (11-11) | 23 | 30 | 53 |
| Middle Tennessee (18-4) « | 30 | 42 | 72 |
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| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| G. Fant, F | 29 | 2-7 | 5-8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| A. Rostov, C | 10 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| B. Harris, G | 38 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| T. Price, G | 33 | 2-10 | 1-2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| K. Kaspar, G | 31 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| M. Vasquez | 13 | 1-1 | 2-5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| O. Akamune | 12 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| C. Dickerson | 12 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| S. Drane | 10 | 2-3 | 5-6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| T. Akol | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| P. Blade | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Anyigbo | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 16-41 | 17-27 | 27 | 4 | 21 | 53 | |
| 39% | 63% | ||||||
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Sulton, F | 27 | 3-5 | 1-4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| N. Hunter, F | 22 | 3-8 | 7-11 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| B. Massey, G | 29 | 3-7 | 4-4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| K. Hammonds, G | 23 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| M. Knight, G | 22 | 6-9 | 2-2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| R. Cintron | 25 | 3-8 | 1-3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| S. Jones | 20 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| T. Knight | 13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| J. Gallman | 10 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| T. Walker | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| G. Gibson | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. Gibson | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-52 | 16-26 | 33 | 17 | 25 | 72 | |
| 48.1% | 61.5% | ||||||
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