Herd romp to win over FAU

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Stevie Browning scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and Marshall cruised to an 89-74 victory over Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament.

No. 6 seed Marshall (1814) plays third-seeded Old Dominion in a quarterfinal today. FAU (10-20) lost four of its past five.

Browning finished 7 of 15 from the floor and made five 3-pointers. Jon Elmore and C. J. Burks added 14 points apiece for the Thundering Herd. Terrence Thompson had a game-high 11 rebounds and added eight points.

Justin Massey scored 19 points to lead FAU.

Marshall had a double-digit lead midway through the first half and built a 52-29 halftime lead. The Thundering Herd shot 50 percent and made 8 of 19 3-pointers (42 percent) in the first half.

■ UAB 74, Charlotte 73: William “HaHa” Lee dunked a teammate’s airball with six seconds remaining to lift the Blazers (17-15) past the 49ers (13-17) in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament.

Andrien White hit a baseline 3-pointer following a steal by Jon Davis with 12 seconds left to give Charlotte the lead. Hakeem Baxter airballed a contested floater, which Davis dunked. White then missed a 3-pointer.

U A B t a k e s o n s e c - ond-seeded Louisiana Tech in a quarterfinal today.

Lee finished with 19 points, Chris Cokley 18 points and 13 rebounds and Dirk Williams 16 points for the Blazers.

Davis scored 25 points with 10 assists for Charlotte.

■ UTSA 56, Western Kentucky 52: Jeff Beverly scored 14 points, and Byron Frohnen had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to lead the Roadrunners (1418) past the Hilltoppers (1517) in the Conference USA Tournament.

UTSA went on a 10-1 run midway through the second half to take control.