NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — Darin Smith Jr. had 24 points in Cent. Conn. St.’s 78-67 victory over Chicago State on Thursday.

Smith also added eight rebounds for the Blue Devils (12-10, 6-5 Northeast Conference). Max Frazier added 15 points while going 6 of 8 and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line while adding eight rebounds. Melo Sanchez shot 4 of 8 from the field, including 3 for 7 from 3-point range to finish with 14 points.

The Cougars (3-20, 1-9) were led by CJ Ray, who recorded 22 points and six rebounds. Chicago State also got 15 points from Marcus Tankersley. Chauncey Gibson finished with eight points.

The Blue Devils led 35-28 at halftime after closing on a 7-0 run, and used a 6-0 run in the second half to build a buffer from a one-point lead.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.