Sights Set on the Sweet 16

Sunday, March 20

St. Louis, MO

5:10 PM

Middle Tennessee

No. 10 Syracuse

3/19/2016 5:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: @MTAthletics

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – After an upset win of unprecedented magnitude, the Blue Raiders (25-9, 13-5 C-USA) are aiming to make more history Sunday when they face Syracuse (20-13, 9-9 ACC) for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 at 5:10 p.m. in the Scottrade Center.

Middle Tennessee collected its third NCAA Tournament win on Friday when it defeated the No. 2 seeded Michigan State Spartans, 90-81. The Blue Raiders are now hoping to earn their first Sweet 16 berth in program history.

While the win against the Spartans may well be the biggest single win in Blue Raider history, a trip to the Sweet 16 would undoubtedly bet the biggest moment in the history of the program.

"I can only imagine the great publicity we could have for a week leading up to going to Chicago," head coach Kermit Davis said. "To beat another storied program like Syracuse, it would mean a lot."

The Raiders won't be intimidated by the history of the Syracuse program or their celebrated coach, proving that neither phased them when they took down Tom Izzo's Spartans.

The Raiders will hope to bring another balanced attack to the floor when they face the Orange after all five starters scored in double figures against MSU.

GAME INFORMATION
(Full Game Notes)

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Date: Sunday, March 20
Time: 5:10 p.m.
Teams: No. 15 Middle Tennessee (25-9, 13-5 C-USA) vs. No. 10 Syracuse (20-13, 9-9 ACC)
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Arena: Scottrade Center (19,150)
Radio: WGNS (1450/100.5/101.9), WPRT (97.5/102.5), WMOT (89.5)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Analysis: Kyle Turnham
TV: CBS
TV Talent: Brian Anderson (PxP), Steve Smith (analysis) and Dana Jacobson (sideline reporter)

Live Stats

GAME NOTES
Coming Through in the Clutch
The Blue Raiders are the best in Conference USA in close games, going 9-1 in contests decided by three points or less in 2015-16. All of the close wins can and have proven to be valuable in the postseason for the Blue Raiders. MT defeated Old Dominion by two points to capture the Conference USA title last weekend after trailing the Monarchs by two with just over a minute left in the contest. In fact, not only does Middle Tennessee have the best record in C-USA in games decided by three points or less, it is the only team to play in more than seven such games.

Raiders 'Role'ing
Middle Tennessee's role players stepped it up the last few weeks of conference play, giving the Raiders some added momentum and a three-game winning streak heading into the tournament. JaQawn Raymond filled the void at point guard with Jacob Ivory out, averaging 7.8 points with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last five regular seasson games. Xavier Habersham pitched in 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds the last four regular season contests while Aldonis Foote contributed 6.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in the last three regular season outings.

Downtown Raiders
Middle Tennessee has been deadly from long range this season, ranking 15th among D-I teams in three-point percentage (39.2%). Giddy Potts currently leads the nation in three-point percentage, converting 50.7 percent of his attempts from deep. The Raiders have been even better in the second half of the season, shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc and making 8.6 threes per game in conference play compared to 36.4 percent and 7.3 threes per game in non-conference play.

Protecting the Rock
Middle Tennessee's offense strives on decision-making and taking good care of the basketball. As the season has gone on the Blue Raiders have constantly decreased their amount of turnovers. MT is averaging 12.0 turnovers on the season but dropped that number to 10.8 in conference play and just 10.3 in their last 10 regular season contests. JaQawn Raymond has seen exceptional improvements in his ball handling since taking over the point guard spot for the injured Jacob Ivory, Raymond had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.1 through the first 25 games this season, but has 22 assists to just seven turnovers in the last nine games. Raymond played 78 total minutes against ODU and Michigan State without a single turnover.

Fantastic Four
Just last season, Middle Tennessee did not have a single player average over 10 points per game. Reggie Upshaw was close at 9.9, but this season MT has four players in double-figures in Upshaw (14.1), Giddy Potts (15.1), Perrin Buford (12.1) and Darnell Harris (11.7).

Upping His Game
Through 34 games, junior forward Reggie Upshaw leads the Blue Raiders in rebounds per game (8.5), defensive rpg (5.6), offensive rpg (2.9), assists per game (2.2) and steals per game (1.5) and ranks in the top seven among Conference USA players in each of those categories except assists per game. The Chattanooga, Tenn. native is also second on the team in points per game (14.1) and field goal percentage (.508). In 18 conference games, Upshaw increased his numbers in five of those seven categories over his non-conference statistics.

Buford's Best
Through his first 19 games as a Blue Raider, Perrin Buford was averaging just 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes per game. In his last 50 games stretched over two seasons, Buford is averaging 11.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 27.1 minutes per contest.

Depth Chart
Middle Tennessee boasts one of the deepest rosters in Conference USA this season. Head coach Kermit Davis has played each of the 12 scholarship players in at least 75 percent of this season's contests, with the exception of Jacob Ivory who sat out the first eight games dueand last nine games due to injury. Of those 12, 11 are averaging over five minutes per game while eight are averaging over 15 minutes per game. With that kind of depth, Davis was able to try eight different starting lineups in the first 13 games to find his best combination. However, in addition to Jacob Ivory's injury, Middle's depth took another hit just before the Conference USA Tournament when Ed Simpson was also lost for the remainder of the season.

Lockdown Defense
The Blue Raiders are constantly working on closing out on opposing ball handlers, but have struggled at times to force tough shots. MT's opponents average 43.0 percent shooting from the field this season. When Middle Tennessee loses their opponents shoot 47.0 percent this season compared to just 41.6 percent in MT wins. During a three-game span late in the season that included UAB, WKU and Marshall, MT allowed the three to shoot a combined 53.6 percent from the field, but have since gotten back to their gritty defense down the stretch. Middle's last six opponents have shot a combined 41.3 percent from the field while the Blue Raiders held their three Conference USA Tournament opponents to just 39.9 percent from the field.

Last Time Out
In perhaps the biggest win in Middle Tennessee history, the Blue Raiders showed the nation just what they are capable of by defeating No. 2 seeded Michigan State, 90-81.

All five Middle Tennessee starters recorded double figures in the game, led by Reggie Upshaw's 21 points. Giddy Potts (19), Darnell Harris (15), Perrin Buford (15) and Jaqawn Raymond (11) each joined Upshaw in the double-digit scoring party.

The Blue Raiders (25-9) shot the highest field goal percentage (.559) and three-point percentage (.579) the Spartans (29-6) have allowed all season.

Upshaw put the exclamation point on the game with a pulverizing slam on Michigan State post man Colby Wollenman, extending the Blue Raider lead to 83-76 with 40 seconds remaining in the contest.

Conference Superlatives

Junior forward Reggie Upshaw and sophomore guard Giddy Potts were both named to the All-Conference USA Third Team for their performance on the court this season.