Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, January 14
Charlotte, NC
6:00 p.m.
Middle Tennessee
at
Charlotte
Men’s Hoops Eyeing Third Straight Win at Charlotte
1/13/2016 3:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHARLOTTE – After a home sweep of UTEP and UTSA, Middle Tennessee heads to Charlotte Thursday looking for its third consecutive win in Conference USA play.
GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)
Hashtag: #TrueFamily, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_MBB
Instagram: @MT_MBB
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics
Date: Thursday, Jan. 14
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Teams: Middle Tennessee (10-5, 2-1 C-USA) vs Charlotte (4-11, 1-2 C-USA)
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Stadium: Halton Arena (9,105)
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Live Audio | Live Stats
GAME NOTES:
Protecting the Rock
Since Jacob Ivory's return against Belmont on Dec. 17, Middle Tennessee has taken better care of the ball, leading to more scoring. The Blue Raiders have dropped from 14.4 turnovers per game while Ivory was out to only 11.1 since his return. The emphasis on protecting the ball has helped the Blue Raiders increase their offensive output from 70.2 points per game to 73.1.
Get it Going, Guards
Head Coach Kermit Davis has been looking for more consistent play from his guards outside of Giddy Potts. Sophomore Ed Simpson has shown glimpses of ability to fill that void as he has provided an added spark in many of Middle Tennessee's victories. When MT wins, Simpson is 46.9 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range, good for 6.8 points per game. In MT losses those numbers drop to 16.7 percent from the field, 9.1 percent from three and 2.0 points per game.
He's Baaack!
Giddy Potts played against UTEP and UTSA last week after sitting out the previous four contests due to an academic issue. The team was happy to see him back as MT averaged 4.9 fewer points per game and the Blue Raider guards were scoring 24.5 points per game, down from 35.6 with Potts in the lineup. Most importantly however, MT was 1-3 without Potts and 9-2 when he does play.
Downtown Raiders
MT has been deadly from beyond the three-point line this season and are currently ranked 98th among D-I teams in three-point percentage (36.4). Guard Giddy Potts would be ranked 27th with a .453 mark from deep if he had played in 75 percent of the team's games this season. The team has even stepped it up lately, making 9.7 threes per game in conference play compared to just 7.3 in non-conference play.
Fantastic Four
Just last season, Middle Tennessee did not have a single player average over 10 points per game. Reggie Upshaw was close at 9.9, but this season MT has four players in double-figures in Upshaw (14.1), Giddy Potts (15.1), Darnell Harris (13.3) and Perrin Buford (10.5).
And Your Point Is…?
With Jacob Ivory's start against Trevecca, MT has now started all three PGs this season. The Blue Raiders are 4-2 in Copeland's starts, 3-3 in Raymond's and 3-0 in Ivory's. MT is averaging about 10 points more per game when Ivory starts in the small sample size.
Series History
On Thursday, the Middle Tennessee men's basketball team plays at Charlotte in only the fifth meeting between the schools all-time. MT leads the series 3-1 and is 1-0 in Charlotte. In three meetings as members of Conference USA, MT is 3-0, winning by an average of 9.3 points. However, both meetings in the 2014-15 season – one in Murfreesboro and one at the C-USA Championship – were decided by only three points each.
Last Time Out
Reggie Upshaw hit five free throws in the final 1:08 to seal a 79-71 victory at the Murphy Center on Saturday. The junior forward also pulled down a defensive rebound in that span and had a key steal with 33 seconds remaining.
Giddy Potts led the Raiders with a season-high 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting while tying his season high with five made three-pointers. Joining him in double-digit scoring were Darnell Harris (15), Perrin Buford (14) and Reggie Upshaw (13).
Middle Tennessee (10-5, 2-1) shot 45.3 percent from the field and 31.0 percent from three-point range on the night. The Raiders outrebounded UTSA (3-14, 1-3) 35-32 with a 10-4 rebounding edge on the offensive glass.
The Blue Raiders tallied a season-high 11 steals on 18 UTSA turnovers Saturday night. Potts (5) and Upshaw (4) both set career highs in steals in the outing.
GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)
Hashtag: #TrueFamily, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_MBB
Instagram: @MT_MBB
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics
Date: Thursday, Jan. 14
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Teams: Middle Tennessee (10-5, 2-1 C-USA) vs Charlotte (4-11, 1-2 C-USA)
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Stadium: Halton Arena (9,105)
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Live Audio | Live Stats
GAME NOTES:
Protecting the Rock
Since Jacob Ivory's return against Belmont on Dec. 17, Middle Tennessee has taken better care of the ball, leading to more scoring. The Blue Raiders have dropped from 14.4 turnovers per game while Ivory was out to only 11.1 since his return. The emphasis on protecting the ball has helped the Blue Raiders increase their offensive output from 70.2 points per game to 73.1.
Get it Going, Guards
Head Coach Kermit Davis has been looking for more consistent play from his guards outside of Giddy Potts. Sophomore Ed Simpson has shown glimpses of ability to fill that void as he has provided an added spark in many of Middle Tennessee's victories. When MT wins, Simpson is 46.9 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range, good for 6.8 points per game. In MT losses those numbers drop to 16.7 percent from the field, 9.1 percent from three and 2.0 points per game.
He's Baaack!
Giddy Potts played against UTEP and UTSA last week after sitting out the previous four contests due to an academic issue. The team was happy to see him back as MT averaged 4.9 fewer points per game and the Blue Raider guards were scoring 24.5 points per game, down from 35.6 with Potts in the lineup. Most importantly however, MT was 1-3 without Potts and 9-2 when he does play.
Downtown Raiders
MT has been deadly from beyond the three-point line this season and are currently ranked 98th among D-I teams in three-point percentage (36.4). Guard Giddy Potts would be ranked 27th with a .453 mark from deep if he had played in 75 percent of the team's games this season. The team has even stepped it up lately, making 9.7 threes per game in conference play compared to just 7.3 in non-conference play.
Fantastic Four
Just last season, Middle Tennessee did not have a single player average over 10 points per game. Reggie Upshaw was close at 9.9, but this season MT has four players in double-figures in Upshaw (14.1), Giddy Potts (15.1), Darnell Harris (13.3) and Perrin Buford (10.5).
And Your Point Is…?
With Jacob Ivory's start against Trevecca, MT has now started all three PGs this season. The Blue Raiders are 4-2 in Copeland's starts, 3-3 in Raymond's and 3-0 in Ivory's. MT is averaging about 10 points more per game when Ivory starts in the small sample size.
Series History
On Thursday, the Middle Tennessee men's basketball team plays at Charlotte in only the fifth meeting between the schools all-time. MT leads the series 3-1 and is 1-0 in Charlotte. In three meetings as members of Conference USA, MT is 3-0, winning by an average of 9.3 points. However, both meetings in the 2014-15 season – one in Murfreesboro and one at the C-USA Championship – were decided by only three points each.
Last Time Out
Reggie Upshaw hit five free throws in the final 1:08 to seal a 79-71 victory at the Murphy Center on Saturday. The junior forward also pulled down a defensive rebound in that span and had a key steal with 33 seconds remaining.
Giddy Potts led the Raiders with a season-high 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting while tying his season high with five made three-pointers. Joining him in double-digit scoring were Darnell Harris (15), Perrin Buford (14) and Reggie Upshaw (13).
Middle Tennessee (10-5, 2-1) shot 45.3 percent from the field and 31.0 percent from three-point range on the night. The Raiders outrebounded UTSA (3-14, 1-3) 35-32 with a 10-4 rebounding edge on the offensive glass.
The Blue Raiders tallied a season-high 11 steals on 18 UTSA turnovers Saturday night. Potts (5) and Upshaw (4) both set career highs in steals in the outing.
Players Mentioned
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