Blue Raiders bring in FIU on Thursday

Thursday, January 8

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

FIU

1/7/2015 9:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball

MT to host FIU in C-USA action

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee (7-7, 0-1) looks to bounce back from its C-USA opener as the Blue Raiders are slated to host FIU (8-6, 1-0) on Thursday evening. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at the Murphy Center.

The Blue Raiders hold a 24-7 all-time record against the Panthers and have won nine of the last 10 games between the two.

MT will host FIU and FAU this week before facing its first conference road test in Southern Miss (Jan. 15) and LA Tech (Jan. 17).

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

Date: Thursday, Jan. 8
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Teams: FIU at Middle Tennessee
Location: Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Arena: Murphy Center (11,520)
TV: Webstream
Radio: WGNS (1450/100.5/101.9), Game2 (94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Color: Kyle Turnham

Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

BLUE RAIDER BULLETS

• The Blue Raiders have OUT-SCORED FIU 9.2 POINTS PER GAME IN THE LAST 10 HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCH-UPS.

• DAVIS IS 11 WINS FROM HIS 250TH CAREER WIN at Middle Tennessee. He is the only coach in program history to earn 200+ wins.

• The Blue Raiders have been dominant at home as they went 14-2 last season and hold a record of 50-6 AT THE MURPHY CENTER IN THE LAST FOUR SEASONS; including this season's 5-2 start at home.

• The Blue Raiders are 7-0 this season when SCORING 60 OR MORE POINTS.

• MT ranks THIRD IN C-USA AND TIED-47th NATIONALLY IN SCORING DEFENSE.

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

• The Middle Tennessee BENCH has AVERAGED 25.8 POINTS PER GAME this season and 44.1 PERCENT OF THE TEAM'S POINTS.

• The MT BENCH is OUTSCORING ITS OPPONENTS BENCH'S BY +7.4 so far this season and have a +2.6 REBOUNDING MARGIN.

• Under Coach Kermit DAVIS the Blue Raiders are 67-38 IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY.

• MT's FRESHMEN HAVE 173 POINTS this season with 93 of those points coming from three-point buckets; accounting for 36.9 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 Jacquez Rozier (9.0 ppg), Reggie Upshaw (8.6 ppg), Jaqawn Raymond (7.7 ppg) and Marcus Tarrance (7.0 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 86 WINS with the Blue Raiders.

• MT has put out NINE DIFFERENT STARTING LINEUPS through the first 14 contests, while 12 different Blue Raiders have notched at least one start.

• 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.

• The Blue Raiders have won three regular season titles (in Sun Belt and C-USA) and have made a trip to the NCAA TOURNAMENT (2013) AND THE NIT (2012) in the last three seasons.

• Middle Tennessee has had a player named to a conference "OF THE YEAR" THREE-CONSECUTIVE YEARS including 2014 C-USA Player of the Year Shawn Jones in the program's inaugural season in the conference.