Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Monday, December 25
Honolulu, HI
7:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
8-4
81
vs
84
No. 15 Miami
11-1
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
29
52
81
Miami
34
50
84
Team Stats
MT
UM
FG%
.519
.600
3FG%
.467
.389
FT%
.833
.680
RB
26
25
TO
11
13
STL
2
5
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Hawaii Media Source
Raiders fight No. 15 Miami to the end in Honolulu
12/25/2017 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
King tallies 28 points for second straight game
HONOLULU, Hawaii – A Top 15 win narrowly eluded the Blue Raiders in the third place game of the Diamond Head Classic on Christmas Day as Miami held off a late surge by Middle Tennessee in an 84-81 thriller.
Nick King led the way once again with a game-high 28 points for the second consecutive game and narrowly missed another double-double with eight rebounds. King finished the three-game tournament with 74 points and 24 rebounds, going 27-of-52 (51.9 percent) from the field, 4-of-9 (44.4) from three and 16-of-22 (72.7) from the free throw line but was stiffed on the event's all-tournament team.
Antwain Johnson added 16 points and four assists while Giddy Potts and Brandon Walters added 12 points each.
Middle Tennessee came out firing on all cylinders in its final contest in Honolulu, opening up a 19-6 lead through the first six-plus minutes having made eight of 11 attempts from the field. Miami made just two of its first eight attempts in the game before a jumper at the 11:50 mark seemed to finally get the Canes going.
That would be the beginning of a 19-5 run that saw UM take its first lead of the game, 25-24, with 4:50 remaining in the first half.
A Karl Gamble free throw tied things back up moments later, but Miami would go on to close the half on a 9-4 run as an Edward Simpson layup at the buzzer sent both teams to the locker room with the Blue Raiders trailing by five, 34-29.
Much like Saturday's contest against USC fouls were the story early on as Middle Tennessee had been called for seven before Miami received their first of the game over seven minutes in. The foul count at halftime was 14-8, but the damage had been done as the foul disparity in the opening minutes killed MT's early momentum.
"We started worrying more about the officiating than our defense and getting stops and that hurt us today," Johnson said. "They really just drove us. Our guards weren't able to keep them in front and that led to a lot of our fouls."
The Blue Raiders came out of the break with some fight left in them and after allowing Miami to score first to open up a 7-point lead MT quickly cut the deficit back to three at 40-37 with a 3-point play by Antwain Johnson.
Middle Tennessee was able to stay close despite a strong offensive performance by the Canes and the perseverance paid off as a trifecta from the wing by King put MT up 52-50 with 10:51 to play.
The Raiders and Canes began to swap punches from that point on as the game featured a number of lead changes and ties down the stretch. It wasn't until a long three by Miami's DJ Vasiljevic with 1:20 remaining that Miami looked to take some control of the game with a 77-71 advantage.
Middle Tennessee, however, refused to quit battling just as Blue Raider fans have become so accustomed to, with 3-pointers by Giddy Potts and Nick King pulling MT back within three with two ticks on the clock.
Miami attempted a home run ball that King pulled down to give the Raiders a chance at a game-tying heave, but the senior couldn't get the shot off before the buzzer to allow Miami to escape with the 3-point win.
"You have to give Miami credit, but we had the lead with about three minutes left and had a chance with Giddy to take the lead back and just couldn't quite get it done," head coach Kermit Davis said. "We missed a couple of great opportunities in two sure NCAA Tournament teams in USC and Miami."
The loss gives Middle Tennessee a fourth place finish in the Diamond Head Classic and concludes no-conference play. The Blue Raiders open up Conference USA play on Saturday, Dec. 30, at UAB.
"I feel like we're going to leave here thinking we let two real good opportunities go, but we know we have a really good team and now it's just time to get ready for conference play," Johnson added.
MT and UAB will tip at 4:00 p.m. on the 30th on Stadium.
Nick King led the way once again with a game-high 28 points for the second consecutive game and narrowly missed another double-double with eight rebounds. King finished the three-game tournament with 74 points and 24 rebounds, going 27-of-52 (51.9 percent) from the field, 4-of-9 (44.4) from three and 16-of-22 (72.7) from the free throw line but was stiffed on the event's all-tournament team.
Antwain Johnson added 16 points and four assists while Giddy Potts and Brandon Walters added 12 points each.
Middle Tennessee came out firing on all cylinders in its final contest in Honolulu, opening up a 19-6 lead through the first six-plus minutes having made eight of 11 attempts from the field. Miami made just two of its first eight attempts in the game before a jumper at the 11:50 mark seemed to finally get the Canes going.
That would be the beginning of a 19-5 run that saw UM take its first lead of the game, 25-24, with 4:50 remaining in the first half.
A Karl Gamble free throw tied things back up moments later, but Miami would go on to close the half on a 9-4 run as an Edward Simpson layup at the buzzer sent both teams to the locker room with the Blue Raiders trailing by five, 34-29.
Much like Saturday's contest against USC fouls were the story early on as Middle Tennessee had been called for seven before Miami received their first of the game over seven minutes in. The foul count at halftime was 14-8, but the damage had been done as the foul disparity in the opening minutes killed MT's early momentum.
"We started worrying more about the officiating than our defense and getting stops and that hurt us today," Johnson said. "They really just drove us. Our guards weren't able to keep them in front and that led to a lot of our fouls."
The Blue Raiders came out of the break with some fight left in them and after allowing Miami to score first to open up a 7-point lead MT quickly cut the deficit back to three at 40-37 with a 3-point play by Antwain Johnson.
Middle Tennessee was able to stay close despite a strong offensive performance by the Canes and the perseverance paid off as a trifecta from the wing by King put MT up 52-50 with 10:51 to play.
The Raiders and Canes began to swap punches from that point on as the game featured a number of lead changes and ties down the stretch. It wasn't until a long three by Miami's DJ Vasiljevic with 1:20 remaining that Miami looked to take some control of the game with a 77-71 advantage.
Middle Tennessee, however, refused to quit battling just as Blue Raider fans have become so accustomed to, with 3-pointers by Giddy Potts and Nick King pulling MT back within three with two ticks on the clock.
Miami attempted a home run ball that King pulled down to give the Raiders a chance at a game-tying heave, but the senior couldn't get the shot off before the buzzer to allow Miami to escape with the 3-point win.
"You have to give Miami credit, but we had the lead with about three minutes left and had a chance with Giddy to take the lead back and just couldn't quite get it done," head coach Kermit Davis said. "We missed a couple of great opportunities in two sure NCAA Tournament teams in USC and Miami."
The loss gives Middle Tennessee a fourth place finish in the Diamond Head Classic and concludes no-conference play. The Blue Raiders open up Conference USA play on Saturday, Dec. 30, at UAB.
"I feel like we're going to leave here thinking we let two real good opportunities go, but we know we have a really good team and now it's just time to get ready for conference play," Johnson added.
MT and UAB will tip at 4:00 p.m. on the 30th on Stadium.
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