Golden Eagles Next Up for Men's Hoops

Saturday, February 13

Hattiesburg, MS

7:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Southern Miss

2/12/2016 12:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Blue Raiders looking to bounce back after loss

By: @MTAthleitcs

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After faltering Thursday night in Ruston, Middle Tennessee looks to return to its winning ways Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss. when the Golden Eagles host the Blue Raiders in Reed Green Coliseum.

GAME INFORMATION
(Full Game Notes)

Hashtag: #TrueFamily, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_MBB
Instagram: @MT_MBB
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics

Date: Saturday, Feb. 13
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Teams: Middle Tennessee (17-7, 9-3 C-USA) vs. Southern Miss (7-15, 4-7 C-USA)
Location: Hattiesburg, Miss.
Arena: Reed Green Coliseum (8,095)
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
Downtown Raiders
MT has been deadly from beyond the 3-point line this season and are currently ranked 78th among D-I teams in 3-point percentage (36.9%). Sophomore guard Giddy Potts currently leads all NCAA Division I players in 3-point percentage, converting 50.0 percent of his attempts from deep. The team has even been better lately, shooting 37.4 percent from deep and making 8.0 threes per game in conference play compared to 36.4 percent and 7.3 threes per game in non-conference play.

Jack of All Trades
Over the last seven games, Perrin Buford has done it all for the Blue Raiders. After averaging 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds through the first 17 games, he has averaged 14.4 and 7.0 over the last seven games. Starting in the home game against North Texas, Buford has also recorded at least one assist, one block and one steal in six of the last seven contests, including a career-high five assists against Florida Atlantic (Feb. 4) and a career-high three steals against Rice (Jan. 23).

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 possessions and points. 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.

High Percentage Shots
Middle Tennessee is shooting 44.2 percent from the field this season, which lands them right in the middle of the pack in Conference USA and just above the middle of the pack nationally. However, when the Blue Raiders shoot over 40 percent in a game, they are 16-0. When shooting below 40 percent, the Raiders are just 1-7, with the lone win coming at WKU on January 30.

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 (13.0), Giddy Potts (14.8), Darnell Harris (13.0) and Perrin Buford (11.4).

Upping His Game
Through 24 games, junior forward Reggie Upshaw leads the Blue Raiders in field goal percentage (50.4%), rebounds per game (8.8), defensive rpg (5.8), offensive rpg (3.1), assists per game (2.2) and steals per game (1.5) and ranks in the top five in Conference USA in each of those categories except field goal percentage and assists per game. The Chattanooga, Tenn. native is also tied for second on the team in points per game (13.0). Through 12 conference games this season, Upshaw has increased his numbers in five of those seven categories over his non-conference statistics

Buford's Best
Through his first 19 games as a Blue Raider, Perrin Buford was averaging just 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes per game. In his last 40 games stretched over two seasons, Buford is averaging 11.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 26.4 minutes per contest.

Series History
On Saturday, the Blue Raiders take on Southern Miss for just the sixth meeting between the programs. Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series 4-1 and are 1-1 with the loss coming all the way back in 1959. MT is 3-0 against USM under head coach Kermit Davis with all three games taking place since the Raiders joined C-USA. Middle has beaten the Golden Eagles by an average of 9.3 points in those meetings, but narrowly escaped in Hattiesburg last year with a 62-61 win.

Last Time Out
A stingy Bulldog defense left the Blue Raiders struggling to score for much of the night as Middle Tennessee fell 73-63 in Ruston.

Down the stretch the Blue Raiders began to show some fight on the offensive end, but couldn't get a stop on defense to catch up to the Bulldogs for much of the second half.

Darnell Harris led the Blue Raiders with 20 points and added seven rebounds. Reggie Upshaw added his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists.

Middle Tennessee (17-7, 9-3) shot just 39.7 percent on the night and went 5-of-21 from three. LA Tech (18-6, 7-4) recorded 12 steals on the night to stifle the Blue Raiders' offense while shooting 54.2 percent from the field.