Potts, Middle Tennessee rout Vermont 91-64 in NIT

Mar 14, 2018, 01:28 pm

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Giddy Potts made six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Nick King had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season and Middle Tennessee used an 18-0 third-quarter run to roll past Vermont 91-64 on Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT.

Potts hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the decisive run and King closed it for a 69-37 lead.

Brandon Walters added 15 points and Antwain Johnson 14 for third-seeded Middle Tennessee (25-7), which advanced to face the region's No. 2 seed Louisville.

Anthony Lamb led six-seeded Vermont (27-8) with 14 of his 18 points in the first half. Drew Urquhart finished with 16 and Ernie Duncan, averaging 11.2 points per game, was scoreless in 12 minutes after suffering an eye injury early in the game. Leading scorer Trae Bell-Haynes, at 14.9, scored five points in 35 minutes.

Vermont, which won 14 consecutive games en route to a regular-season conference championship, closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run for a 21-16 lead and trailed by eight at halftime.