Defense leads MT to win, 5-0 C-USA start

Saturday, January 13

Murfreesboro, TN

5 PM

Middle Tennessee

-134, 50 CUSA

Southern Miss

-910, 27 CUSA

Southern Miss

Middle Tennessee

1/13/2018 7:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Raiders hold Eagles under 35 percent shooting

By: Josh Vardaman

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee put its outstanding defense on display for the Murphy Center crowd Saturday, leading to a 69-49 victory over Southern Miss.

The Blue Raiders (13-4, 5-0) never trailed in the game, pushing their all-time series advantage to 7-1 against their Conference USA adversary. The blue and white have won six in a row against the Golden Eagles (9-10, 2-4) and all five matchups at the Murphy Center.

"It's always good to be 5-0 and lead your league … especially with three of five on the road," MT head coach Kermit Davis said. "There are some positive things to it, and a lot of things we need to get better at offensively. But, it's a good place to be."

Going into Saturday, Middle Tennessee sported the top defense in C-USA play, giving up just 60 points per game in four league contests, while Southern Miss held the third-highest scoring clip at 77 points per outing in five C-USA games.

It wasn't clear going in which unit would steal the night, but it didn't take long to figure out it was MT's defense.

Southern Miss struggled offensively from the onset, though it wasn't because the Blue Raiders were forcing turnovers. The Golden Eagles just couldn't hit a shot.

The away team committed just nine turnovers in the game, but hit only three of its first 20 shots from the field in the first 16 minutes as Middle Tennessee jumped to an early double-digit lead. Southern Miss finished just 18-of-52 for a field-goal percentage of 35.

"We're starting to really come together defensively," senior Edward Simpson said. "That's coming down to everyone communicating and staying connected – that's a big word for us this year.

"At the end of the day, if you're forcing them to make tough shots, you can live with that."

With the Golden Eagles missing shots, there were plenty of opportunities for the Blue Raiders to rip down rebounds, and they did so at an efficient pace.

Middle Tennessee grabbed 50 team rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, to Southern Miss's 23, with five players coming down with at least five boards. It set a new season high for the Raiders in both rebounds and rebound margin.

Redshirt senior Brandon Walters was a dominant force on the inside, pouring in 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds, seven on the offensive end. The 6-foot-10 Chattanooga native finished 9-of-12 from the field.

Walters, who averages 10.8 points per game, combined for 37 points and 15 rebounds in two home games this week after the Blue Raiders spent the prior 33 days away from the Murphy Center.

"What a great week," Davis said. "He looked like the big kid in the neighborhood, really.

"He's taking his time more [offensively], and I thought he defended well. He's going to be huge for us down the stretch."

Saturday's game also marked the 100^th start of senior Giddy Potts' career, the third most all-time at MT. He shook off a tough outing Thursday against LA Tech with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Potts also entered needing just 10 points to move into the program's top-10 list all-time. He's now alone in ninth with 1,430 career points.

"I just came out and had open shots, so I took them and made them," Potts said. "I like to come out here and show our fans what I can do and have fun. Having them and these guys behind me to support me, that's great."

Juniors Antwain Johnson and James Hawthorne finished with eight and seven points, respectively, off the bench for the Blue Raiders. Redshirt senior Nick King, who entered the game second in C-USA and 12^th in the nation scoring 22.8 points per game, tweaked an ankle in the first half and finished with just six points but grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Middle Tennessee will hit the road next week with games at Marshall on Thursday and WKU on Saturday. They're slated for 7 p.m. and 6 p.m. tipoffs, respectively.