MT and ODU set for defensive battle on Thursday

Thursday, January 22

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Old Dominion

1/21/2015 8:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Blue Raiders meet Monarchs

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee (10-8, 3-2 C-USA) faces a big test at home on Thursday night as Old Dominion (15-2, 4-1 C-USA) comes to the Murphy Center for a 7:05 tip-off on American Sports Network (ASN).

MT will look to improve and defend its 52-6 home court record over the last four seasons as the Monarchs are currently receiving votes in the AP Poll and the USA Today Coach's Poll.

The Blue Raiders are 7-2 at home this season and only have six more games in the Murphy Center.

Both team's are ranked in the top-40 in the country in scoring defense.

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

Date: Thursday, Jan. 22
Time: 7:05 p.m. CT
Teams: Old Dominion (RV) at Middle Tennessee
Location: Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Arena: Murphy Center (11,520)
TV: American Sports Network (ASN)
LOCAL: Comcast 251, WZTV (Broadcast) 30.2
TV LISTINGS
Talent: Dave Barnett and Tim Scarborough
Radio: ESPN Nashville (97.5/102.5), The Game, WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS AM-FM (1450/100.5/101.9)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Color: Kyle Turnham

Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

BLUE RAIDER BULLETS

• MT IS ONE OF TWO TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY to have a winning record without its leading scorer averaging double figures.

• The Blue Raiders have been dominant at home as they went 14-2 last season and hold a record of 52-6 AT THE MURPHY CENTER IN THE LAST FOUR SEASONS; including this season's 7-2 start at home.

• The Blue Raiders are 10-1 this season when SCORING 60 OR MORE POINTS.

• MT ranks SECOND IN C-USA AND 40th NATIONALLY IN SCORING DEFENSE.

• DAVIS IS EIGHT WINS FROM HIS 250TH CAREER WIN at Middle Tennessee. He is the only coach in program history to earn 200+ wins.

• The 2015 CONFERENCE USA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP will be held in Birmingham from March 11-14.

• The Middle Tennessee BENCH has AVERAGED 27.4 POINTS PER GAME this season and 45.1 PERCENT OF THE TEAM'S POINTS.

• The MT BENCH is OUTSCORING ITS OPPONENTS BENCH'S BY +11.8 so far this season and have a +4.4 REBOUNDING MARGIN.

• Reggie UPSHAW AVERAGES 11.7 points per game when coming OFF THE BENCH compared to 7.7 points per game when starting.

• UpPSHAW tied his CAREER-HIGH IN SCORING WITH 18 POINTS at Southern Miss. When coming off the bench he IS SHOOTING 31 PERCENT BETTER than when he starts.

• Under Coach Kermit DAVIS the Blue Raiders are 70-39 IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY.

• MT's FRESHMEN HAVE 259 POINTS this season with 129 of those points coming from three-point buckets; accounting for 39 PERCENT OF THE BLUE RAIDERS' THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS.

• A FRESHMAN HAS STARTED in every game except one this season for Middle Tennessee

• MT's FOUR VETERAN RETURNERS Reggie Upshaw (9.7 ppg), Jacquez Rozier (8.6 ppg), Jaqawn Raymond (7.2 ppg) and Marcus Tarrance (6.4 ppg) LEAD THE TEAM IN SCORING this season.

• Coach DAVIS was named to FORBES LIST OF BEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACHES FOR THE MONEY AT NO. 4; only behind San Diego State's Steve Fisher, Syracuse's Jim Boheim and Gonzaga's Mark Few.

• Over the last three years the Blue Raiders have AVERAGED 26.3 WINS PER SEASON. Last year's senior class was the most-winningest class to play at Middle Tennessee with 95 wins with the Blue Raiders.

• ROZIER, the team's lone four-year senior has recorded 89 WINS with the Blue Raiders.

• Middle Tennessee has earned at least a share of the CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON TITLE THREE YEARS IN A ROW AND FOUR OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS.

• During that time the Blue Raiders have made a trip to the NCAA TOURNAMENT (2013) AND THE NIT (2012).