DAYTON— Mustapha Amzil scored 19 points to help Dayton defeat Davidson 68-61 on Tuesday night.
Amzil was 5 of 8 shooting, including 2 for 3 from distance, and went 7 for 8 from the line for the Flyers (13-6, 5-1 Atlantic 10 Conference). Toumani Camara scored 15 points while shooting 6 for 12, including 1 for 4 from beyond the arc, and added five rebounds and three blocks. Mike Sharavjamts was 4 of 7 shooting (1 for 4 from distance) to finish with nine points.
Desmond Watson led the way for the Wildcats (9-10, 2-5) with 19 points. Sam Mennenga added 15 points and 13 rebounds for Davidson. In addition, Foster Loyer had seven points.
Northern Illinois 81,
Miami (Ohio) 77
OXFORD — David Coit had 21 points and Northern Illinois beat Miami (Ohio) .
Coit was 9 of 15 shooting (3 for 5 from distance) for the Huskies (6-12, 2-3 Mid-American Conference). Zarigue Nutter scored 16 points while going 8 of 16 from the field, and added eight rebounds. Kaleb Thornton was 4 of 11 shooting, including 3 for 8 from distance, and went 2 for 5 from the line to finish with 13 points.
The RedHawks (7-11, 1-4) were led in scoring by Morgan Safford, who finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Anderson Mirambeaux added 18 points, four assists and three steals for Miami. In addition, Mekhi Lairy had 15 points and six assists.
No. 9 Tennessee 70,
Mississippi State 59
Starkville, Miss. — Zakai Zeigler had 24 points and Tennessee made 8 of 9 3-pointers in the second half as the Volunteers were able to pull away late.
The Vols (15-3, 5-1 SEC) shot 2 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half as the Bulldogs clamped down on Tennessee but it was a different story in the final 20 minutes. Zeigler had 14 points in the second half and Tennessee nearly doubled its production from the first when the game was tied at 23.
Mississippi St. (12-6, 1-5) improved on its first half total as well, scoring 10 more points in the frame. The pace played out of the Bulldogs’ realm, however, as the defensive minded Mississippi St. team couldn’t keep up with the hot shooting Vols.
No. 1 Houston 80,
Tulane 60
NEW ORLEANS — Marcus Sasser highlighted a 23-point performance with seven 3-pointers, and Houston defeated Tulane for the Cougars’ ninth straight victory.
J’Wan Roberts scored 15 and Jamal Shead added 14 points for Houston (18-1, 6-0 American Athletic Conference), which led for all but a 50-second span in the first half while preventing Tulane (12-6, 5-2) from taking over the top spot in the conference.
Jaylen Forbes scored 23 and Jalen Cook added 15 points for the Wave, which could not get closer than five points in the second half. When Sasser’s 3 with 3:28 made it 73-54, Tulane fans started filing out of an arena that had been packed and loud for much of the game’s first 30 minutes.
Tramon Mark added 12 points for Houston, which shot 55.4% and hit 12 of 24 3-point attempts.
Kevin Cross scored 12 for Tulane, which shot 40% and made just 6 of 26 from deep.
The Cougars opened the second half with an 8-0 run fueled by Sasser’s 3 and his driving layup to take a 48-32 lead. Houston was still up 53-38 after Sasser’s step-back 3, but the Wave was briefly able to lock in defensively, forcing five straight Cougars misses during an 11-1 run.
Forbes’ fourth 3 of the game capped the spurt and pulled Tulane to 54-49 before Houston’s Mark hit a pull-up in transition to stunt the Wave’s momentum and spark a 7-0 Cougars run highlighted by another Sasser 3.
The Cougars shot 57% in the first half and led by 12 when Shead hit a driving layup in the final minute of the half.
But Tulane ended the half on a high note. Forbes hit a 3 as he was fouled on the left wing with 4 seconds to go and completed the four-point play to pull the Wave to 40-32 at halftime.
