Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
North Texas
Blue Raiders In Key SBC Game Tonight
2/6/2003 1:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raiders' chase for the East Division title continues on Thursday night in a key Sun Belt matchup with North Texas.
Middle Tennessee (10-11; 5-3) is coming off a thrilling 60-58 win over Florida International and is attempting to extend its winning streak to three games. However, North Texas (7-13; 2-6) will present quite a challenge.
The Mean Green pulled a big home upset over New Mexico State in its last outing and has improved its play of late. All-American candidate Chris Davis paces UNT with 18 points per game and 7.5 rebounds. Davis isn't the team's only weapon, though. The Mean Green's front line features forwards Jermaine Green and Michael DeGrate, both at 6-8, and center Justin Barnett measures up at 6-10.
The game will feature a marquee matchup tonight as Davis and MT's Tommy Gunn will square off in a battle of perhaps the top two guards in the league. Gunn is averaging just over 16 points per contest, but has stepped up his game over the last nine contests, averaging 19 points with a field goal percentage of 60.5 over this span.
All told, tonight's game will go a long way in determining the future of each team in the Sun Belt race. A win for Middle Tennessee keeps the Blue Raiders within a half game of Western Kentucky in the East Division while a North Texas victory keeps the team's hopes alive for a crawl out of the West Division cellar.
The game is slated to tip-off at 7 PM at the Murphy Center. For ticket information, please call the MT Ticket Office at (615) 898-2103 or 1-888-YES-MTSU.
