DENTON, Texas -- Kerry Hammonds II scored 18 points to lead Middle Tennessee over North Texas 70-63 on Saturday.

Middle Tennessee (13-7, 3-2 Conference USA) shot 51 percent from the floor. Neiko Hunter scored 13 points, Jaqawn Raymond had 12 and Tweety Knight added 11.

Jordan Williams led North Texas (11-9, 2-4) with 16 points, while Vertrail Vaughns added 11 and Maurice Aniefiok had 10.

North Texas led by as many as 12 on several occasions in the first half, but MTSU closed the half on a 10-2 run -- including a pair of treys by Hammonds -- to cut the deficit to four at 32-28.

Middle Tennessee took the lead 1:55 into the second half on a 3 by Raymond and never trailed again. NTU trimmed the lead to four with 1:31 left on Vaughns' layup, but MTSU made 7 of 8 free throws at the end to seal the win.