The first round of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center takes place on Wednesday with a four-game slate. (4W) UTSA led (5E) Charlotte nearly the entire way in a 72-62 win the lid-lifter. Rice surprised (3E) Marshall in the second game of the early session, 72-68. The 8:30 p.m. game features (4E) Florida Atlantic against (5W) UTEP, while the 9 p.m. game is a matchup of (3W) North Texas and Middle Tennessee.
 
Schedules/Watch Links/Results/Box Scores/Team Information
 
Championship Central
 
First Round Game 1
(4W) UTSA 72, (5E) Charlotte 62
FRISCO, Texas – UTSA took control early in the first half and led the final 34 minutes of a 72-62 victory over Charlotte in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Jhivvan Jackson guided the Roadrunners to a 15-point halftime lead by scoring all 18 of his points in the first half.  He narrowly missed a double-double, finishing the game with nine rebounds.  Jackson also dished out six assists.
 
Jacob Germany did record a double-double for UTSA (15-10), finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  He scored 10 of his 16 in the second half while posting his sixth double-double of the season. 
 
Keaton Wallace topped UTSA in scoring with 20 points, the seventh time he has scored 20 or more this season.  He scored 11 of the Roadrunners final 13 points.
 
Jordan Shepherd and Jahmir Young provided the majority of the offense for Charlotte (9-16), finishing with 20 and 19 points, respectively.  Shepherd scored 13 of his 20 in the second half.
 
UTSA advances to play East Division Champion WKU at 5:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  The teams did not meet in the regular season.
 
 
First Round Game 2
Rice 72, (3E) Marshall 68
FRISCO, Texas – Quincy Olivari scored 23 points to lead Rice to a 72-68 victory over Marshall in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Olivari scored 15 of his game-high 23 in the second half for Rice (15-12).  In leading the team in scoring for the 13^th time this season he narrowly missed a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds.  Included in his point total were five 3-pointers.
 
Rice closed out the first half on a 19-11 run that saw them take a 31-29 halftime lead.  The Owls would led the rest of the way, save for a 1:44 period in the middle of the second half.  A 14-2 run would give Rice a 59-49 lead that it would not relinquish as it won in Frisco for the second straight night.
 
Max Fiedler followed up last night’s 8-of-10 shooting effort against Southern Miss with a 7-of-10 showing from the field against Marshall.  He finished with 15 points and just missed a second straight double-double by grabbing nine boards.
 
For the second straight night, Travis Evee scored all of his points in the second half, following up last night’s 12 with 9 tonight.  Included was a key three-pointer early in the 14-2 run and a pair of free throws with 1:00 to play.
 
Marshall (15-7) had won three in a row and six of seven coming into the game.  The Thundering Herd placed four players in double-figure scoring, led by Jarrod West with 19. Mikel Beyers finished with 17.  Taevion Kinsey and Jannson Williams each had 11 points.
 
Tonight’s victory gave Rice two wins in the C-USA Championship for the first time since 2007. 
 
Rice advances to play (W2) UAB at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action. 

First Round Game 3
(4E) Florida Atlantic 76, (5W) UTEP 70
FRISCO, Texas – Florida Atlantic’s defense clamped down late in the game, leading the Owls to a 76-70 win over UTEP in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Florida Atlantic (13-9) held the Miners without a field goal for 6:35 until a slam dunk at the buzzer provided the game’s final points.  That defensive effort allowed the Owls to erase a two-point deficit (58-56) and go on a 20-10 run before the final dunk. 
 
Karlis Silins led the Owls offensively, setting a new career high with 22 points.  He hit 7-of-12 from the floor and was 7-of-9 from the line, while adding six rebounds.
 
Jailyn Ingram came off the bench to provide a spark for FAU, scoring eight points and pulling down eight rebounds.  With those boards, he now ranks No. 3 all-time in career rebounds in program history.
 
Bryan Greenlee scored 13 points and dished out four assists for the Owls, while Michael Forrest added 11 points and six rebounds.
 
Souley Boum scored a game-high 23 points for UTEP (12-12).  Keonte Kennedy and Bryson Williams each scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Miners.
 
Florida Atlantic advances to play Louisiana Tech at 8:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  The two teams did not meet in the regular season.
 
First Round Game 4
(3W) North Texas 76, (6E) Middle Tennessee 56
FRISCO, Texas – North Texas closed the game on a 27-7 run over the final 6:19 to pull away from Middle Tennessee and post a 76-56 win in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
2019-20 C-USA Player of the Year Javion Hamlet finished big with a double-double, scoring 21 points and dishing out 11 assists.  He also pulled down seven rebounds.
 
Thomas Bell added 19 points and James Reese had 15 for North Texas (14-9).  Bell was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc, while Reese connected on a trio of treys.  The Mean Green finished 10-of-16 from three-point range.
 
After falling down by 10 (18-8) early, Middle Tennessee caught fire from the field, going 7-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half in what was one of the best offensive halves of the season for the Blue Raiders.  MTSU went 8-of-21 from 3-point range on the night.
 
Jalen Jordan and Jordan Davis each led the Blue Raiders (5-18) with 12 points.  DeAndre Dishman added 10 points for Middle Tennessee.
 
North Texas advances to play (E2) Old Dominion at 9 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  The teams did not meet in the regular season.
 
Preliminary Round Game 1
(6W) Rice 61, (7W) Southern Miss 52
FRISCO, Texas – Rice closed the game on an 18-3 run to defeat Southern Miss, 61-52 in the opening game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
The Owls defense clamped down late to secure this victory.  After Southern Miss took a 49-43 lead with 6:24 to play, the Golden Eagles were held without a field goal the remainder of the contest.
 
With game-highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds, Max Fiedler has his 8th double-double of the season for Rice (14-12).  He had an outstanding shooting night, hitting 8-of-10 field goal attempts.  He also scored seven of the Owls’ 18 points during the decisive winning run to close the game.
 
Quincy Olivari narrowly missed his first career double-double, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds and scoring 9 points.  Travis Evee scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
 
DeAndre Pinckney had 14 points for the Golden Eagles (8-17).  Tyler Stevenson scored 12 and Tae Hardy added 11 points to go with six rebounds.
 
Rice advances to play (3E) Marshall at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday in first round action.  Those two teams did not meet this season.