Smith scores 22 off the bench, Middle Tennessee beats Kennesaw State 90-87

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KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Sean Smith scored 22 points off of the bench to lead Middle Tennessee over Kennesaw State 90-87 on Thursday.

Smith also had five assists for the Blue Raiders (12-12, 6-7 Conference USA). Torey Alston scored 21 points while going 7 of 11 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 6 for 9 from the line, and added six rebounds and three blocks. Kamari Lands shot 3 for 6 (0 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. The Blue Raiders snapped a five-game slide.

Braedan Lue led the Owls (14-10, 6-7) in scoring, finishing with 23 points. Kennesaw State also got 21 points, seven assists and two steals from RJ Johnson. Frankquon Sherman finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Smith scored 10 points in the first half and Middle Tennessee went into halftime trailing 49-45. Middle Tennessee pulled off the victory after an 8-0 second-half run erased a seven-point deficit and gave them the lead at 71-70 with 8:28 remaining in the half. Alston scored 12 second-half points.

After Chris Loofe's dunk with 1:41 remaining, the Blue Raiders closed out the win with free throws.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.