Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
North Alabama
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Men's basketball faces North Alabama in final exhibition tonight
11/6/2008 4:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee is set to play host to Division II foe North Alabama in an exhibition game that will serve as the Blue Raiders' final tune-up for the regular season at Murphy Center tonight at 7.
The Blue Raiders beat Cumberland, 81-70, in an exhibition game last Saturday and Head Coach Kermit Davis is anxious to see how much improvement his team has made in the last few practices when it hits the court against North Alabama.
"It's going to be a good opportunity to get on the court and try to improve from Saturday's game after three good practices," Davis said. "It's another good opportunity for our players against a quality team and that's what you are looking for during the exhibition season."
North Alabama will provide a solid tune-up for Middle Tennessee. The Lions are coming off a 27-9 season that saw them reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament. They return four starters from that squad and are ranked in the Top 15 of the preseason NCAA Division II national poll.
Although Middle Tennessee enjoyed a win in its opening exhibition game, Davis said the players understand the necessity for improvement, particularly in the areas of defense and rebounding.
"We have had some really good practices and we get great effort but with our regular-season schedule the level that we have to defend and rebound at has to be awful high," Davis said. "You can't get tricked as a coach, as a staff or as players and it's easier for players to get tricked sometimes and get a false sense of where they are. Our interior defense is not very good right now so we have a lot of room for improvement and we have to make a lot of improvement defensively Thursday night."
Middle Tennessee opens its season at home against Trevecca, Nov. 14.
