NCAA Basketball: Khalil Ahmad and Furman top mid-major performers of the week

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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: Keyon Jones #0 and Eli Chuha #22 of the New Mexico State Aggies react to their 68-79 loss to the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Best Intra-State Battle – New Mexico State 98 New Mexico 94

Junior AJ Harris led the Aggies past the Lobos with 31 points on 9-11 from shooting (6-6 from three-point range) and 7-10 from the charity stripe. Vance Jackson’s 27 wasn’t enough for the Lobos to prevent the Aggies’ fourth straight victory in the rivalry, which will have another matchup on Dec. 4. in Las Cruces.

Best Intra-City Battle – Belmont 87 Lipscomb 83

The Bisons ended Belmont’s 11-game winning streak in the Battle of the Boulevard with two blowout wins last season. The Bruins responded this year with a vengeful win in Lipscomb’s home arena to kick off this season’s pair of matchups between the rivals who literally share a street.

Freshman Caleb Hollander paced Belmont 21 and 11, headlining an overall strong performance from the Bruins freshmen. The Bisons were led by 27 from Garrison Mathews, who propelled Lipscomb on a second-half comeback that nearly earned a win. The two teams will meet again on Dec. 4 at Belmont.

Lipscomb also picked up a solid 79-73 win over SMU in their follow-up to the Battle of the Boulevard.

Biggest Upset – Northeastern 68 Alabama 52

Not only did Northeastern upset Alabama, an NCAA Tournament team from last season, but they blew them out. The Huskies won by 16, shot 9-17 from three, and held the Crimson Tide to 37 percent from the field (they only shot 3-19 from three).

Senior Vasa Pusica turned in an all-around performance to lead the Huskies with 20 points, three rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Pusica and Northeastern followed up the big win with double-digit losses to Virginia Tech and Davidson.

Honorable mention to Radford’s 63-60 win over Notre Dame.

Best Mid-Major Matchup – Georgia Southern 80 Montana 77

Georgia Southern improved to 5-0 on the year with a three-point win over Montana, the Grizzlies only loss of the season so far.

The Eagles had five players score in double-figures, led by Tookie Brown’s 22-6-4-2 line. Montana star Ahmaad Rorie paced a quartet of double-digit Grizzlies with 19-3-6-1.

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Honorable mention to FGCU’s 84-78 win over South Dakota State. Marquette transfer Haanif Cheatham led the Eagles with 23-5-3-2, while Mike Daum’s robin is slowly turning into his co-Batman as David Jenkins notched 29 for the Jackrabbits.

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