Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, January 18
Huntington, WV
7 PM
Middle Tennessee
-135, 51 CUSA
63
at
73
Marshall
-136, 42 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
34
29
63
Marshall
36
37
73
Team Stats
MT
MAR
FG%
.403
.458
3FG%
.357
.435
FT%
.615
.679
RB
39
32
TO
19
18
STL
4
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Jimmy Mitchell
Marshall hands Raiders first C-USA loss
1/18/2018 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MT holds Herd offense in check but falls by 10
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Middle Tennessee held a league-leading Thundering Herd offense to their second-lowest scoring output of the season Thursday night in Huntington but came up short on the offensive end in a 73-63 loss, its first in conference play and only loss of the season in true road games.
Marshall (13-6, 4-2) came in averaging 87.6 points per game but a subpar 40.3 percent shooting performance saw the Blue Raiders (13-5, 5-1) also put up its second-lowest score of the season.
MT continued its excellent rebounding, edging Marshall 39-32 on the boards in the Cam Henderson Center, but turned 14 offensive rebounds into just 15 second chance points while 19 Blue Raider turnovers led to 18 Herd points on the other end.
"Give (head coach) Dan (D'Antoni) and Marshall all the credit," MT head coach Kermit Davis said. "We've won a lot of games in this league on toughness and rebounding and they were tougher than us tonight.
"I really like the depth of their team and think they're going to be right in the thick of it down the stretch in the league race."
MT's rebounding edge was thanks in large part to a continued effort to crash the boards by senior forward Nick King, who's game-high nine rebounds gave him eight consecutive games with eight or more.
The Memphis, Tenn., native finished with 14 points while senior guard Giddy Potts added 15 and seven. Junior guard Antwain Johnson matched Potts with a team-high 15.
After a 5-5 score in the opening minutes, Marshall reeled off an 8-0 run as four Blue Raider turnovers led to five Herd points. Potts eventually ended the drought with a triple at the 14:12 mark to get him on the board after a layup by Brandon Walters and 3-pointer by Tyrik Dixon opened MT's scoring.
The Blue Raiders pulled within three before Marshall scored again, but layups by Potts and Johnson sandwiched around a King free throw then closed the gap to 17-15.
Dixon tied things back up at the 10:10 mark with a baseline drive and layup and just over two minutes later Nick King gave MT its first lead of the contest at 21-19 after scoring back-to-back baskets.
Marshall then came out firing as a 7-0 run that concluded just after the final media timeout put the Herd up 32-24, but Middle Tennessee punched back with an 8-1 run to bring the score to 33-32 in favor of the Herd.
James Hawthorne provided a late spark in the first half, tallying four of MT's final six points in the half on a pair of impressive moves in the paint with a block on the defensive end to keep Marshall within reach as MT went into the break trailing 36-34.
Middle Tennessee came out of the locker room with some fire as a Potts triple put MT on top and a dunk by King made the lead three.
Then it was Marshall's turn to punch back as a 9-0 run saw them take a 45-39 advantage and regain the momentum on their home floor.
After Marshall had opened up its largest lead of the game at eight points following the under 16 media timeout, Middle Tennessee closed the gap to four on their first basket out of the under 12 media timeout to remain close.
The Blue Raiders were able to keep the deficit at six or less through the under eight media timeout but a 6-0 run in conjunction with an MT scoring drought of over four minutes put Marshall up 64-54 with 4:48 left in Huntington.
After a full timeout, King cut the deficit back to single digits with a layup, but the Marshall crowd turned up the noise level and willed their team on to the 10-point win down the stretch.
Dixon finished with nine points and three rebounds on the night while Walters had six and five. Hawthorne totaled four points and three rebounds off the bench.
Middle Tennessee returns to action Saturday night at WKU, who narrowly defeated UAB Thursday night to stand as Conference USA's only remaining unbeaten team. The Blue Raiders and Hilltoppers will tip at 6:00 p.m. on Stadium.
Marshall (13-6, 4-2) came in averaging 87.6 points per game but a subpar 40.3 percent shooting performance saw the Blue Raiders (13-5, 5-1) also put up its second-lowest score of the season.
MT continued its excellent rebounding, edging Marshall 39-32 on the boards in the Cam Henderson Center, but turned 14 offensive rebounds into just 15 second chance points while 19 Blue Raider turnovers led to 18 Herd points on the other end.
"Give (head coach) Dan (D'Antoni) and Marshall all the credit," MT head coach Kermit Davis said. "We've won a lot of games in this league on toughness and rebounding and they were tougher than us tonight.
"I really like the depth of their team and think they're going to be right in the thick of it down the stretch in the league race."
MT's rebounding edge was thanks in large part to a continued effort to crash the boards by senior forward Nick King, who's game-high nine rebounds gave him eight consecutive games with eight or more.
The Memphis, Tenn., native finished with 14 points while senior guard Giddy Potts added 15 and seven. Junior guard Antwain Johnson matched Potts with a team-high 15.
After a 5-5 score in the opening minutes, Marshall reeled off an 8-0 run as four Blue Raider turnovers led to five Herd points. Potts eventually ended the drought with a triple at the 14:12 mark to get him on the board after a layup by Brandon Walters and 3-pointer by Tyrik Dixon opened MT's scoring.
The Blue Raiders pulled within three before Marshall scored again, but layups by Potts and Johnson sandwiched around a King free throw then closed the gap to 17-15.
Dixon tied things back up at the 10:10 mark with a baseline drive and layup and just over two minutes later Nick King gave MT its first lead of the contest at 21-19 after scoring back-to-back baskets.
Marshall then came out firing as a 7-0 run that concluded just after the final media timeout put the Herd up 32-24, but Middle Tennessee punched back with an 8-1 run to bring the score to 33-32 in favor of the Herd.
James Hawthorne provided a late spark in the first half, tallying four of MT's final six points in the half on a pair of impressive moves in the paint with a block on the defensive end to keep Marshall within reach as MT went into the break trailing 36-34.
Middle Tennessee came out of the locker room with some fire as a Potts triple put MT on top and a dunk by King made the lead three.
Then it was Marshall's turn to punch back as a 9-0 run saw them take a 45-39 advantage and regain the momentum on their home floor.
After Marshall had opened up its largest lead of the game at eight points following the under 16 media timeout, Middle Tennessee closed the gap to four on their first basket out of the under 12 media timeout to remain close.
The Blue Raiders were able to keep the deficit at six or less through the under eight media timeout but a 6-0 run in conjunction with an MT scoring drought of over four minutes put Marshall up 64-54 with 4:48 left in Huntington.
After a full timeout, King cut the deficit back to single digits with a layup, but the Marshall crowd turned up the noise level and willed their team on to the 10-point win down the stretch.
Dixon finished with nine points and three rebounds on the night while Walters had six and five. Hawthorne totaled four points and three rebounds off the bench.
Middle Tennessee returns to action Saturday night at WKU, who narrowly defeated UAB Thursday night to stand as Conference USA's only remaining unbeaten team. The Blue Raiders and Hilltoppers will tip at 6:00 p.m. on Stadium.
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2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
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MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
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MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
