MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Interstat) — Middle Tennessee avenged an earlier overtime loss by defeating UTEP 77-67 in a Conference USA men’s basketball game Thursday night at Murphy Athletics Center.

Kamari Lands scored 22 points to lead the Blue Raiders, who improved to 14-14. Kaseem Watson paced the Miners with 24 points in the loss, dropping UTEP to 10-18. Middle Tennessee led 34-26 at halftime and maintained its advantage throughout the second half before an announced crowd of 3,452. Elijah Jones added 19 points for UTEP, while Alec Oglesby had 17 points for the Blue Raiders.