Cortez Edwards scored 29 points to lead Southern Miss to a 69-68 win over FIU in the first round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday.
The ninth-seeded Golden Eagles improve to 15-17 and advance to the quarterfinals where they will face top seed Middle Tennessee at 6 p.m. at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Southern Miss, which led 32-25 at halftime, also got 11 points out of its lone senior D’Angelo Richardson to help the winning cause.
The effort helped overcome a 30-point game from FIU’s Brian Beard Jr.
The Golden Eagles shot 44 percent compared to the Panthers’ 39.