Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Wednesday, November 21
Paradise Island, Bahamas
8:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
3-2
52
vs
74
Virginia
4-0
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
25
27
52
Virginia
38
36
74
Team Stats
MTSU
VA
FG%
.392
.464
3FG%
.231
.348
FT%
.750
.700
RB
26
38
TO
15
13
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Cavaliers outlast growing Raiders in B4A opener
11/21/2018 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MT fights with No. 4 Virginia throughout
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – With the No. 4 ranked Virginia Cavaliers across the court in their Battle 4 Atlantis opener Wednesday evening, the Blue Raiders turned in perhaps their strongest effort of the season in a 74-52 loss inside Imperial Arena.
The Blue Raiders put up a fight throughout the evening despite having to battle back from large deficits early on.
On a night where the Blue Raiders would need to be near perfect, a nightmare of a start put them in a hole that appeared it may be tough to overcome.
"Tonight, playing a team as good as Virginia, we just didn't execute enough on both sides of the ball to win a game like this," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "I told our team I thought our effort was good enough to win. We just didn't execute enough on both sides of the ball."
After a 9-0 start by the Cavaliers, Reggie Scurry finally got the Raiders on the board with a pair of free throws four and a half minutes in. Another UVA run would put MT down 21-6 before leading scorer Antonio Green knocked down a triple from straight away nine minutes in.
The efficient and defensive-minded Cavalier squad eventually opened up a 30-9 lead, its largest of the first half, but then the inexperienced Blue Raiders began to fight through some growing pains and climb back into the contest.
A 10-0 Blue Raider run closed the gap to 11 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by sophomore Donovan Sims and MT would close the gap to nine at the 2:04 mark before going into the locker room trailing 38-25.
Middle Tennessee came out of the break looking to keep making a game of it with an early 5-0 run courtesy of Green and Scurry, cutting the Virginia lead to 38-30.
The highly-ranked Cavaliers quickly pulled back away, however, spreading the lead out to 17 on a 9-0 run and wouldn't allow Middle Tennessee back within single digits for the remainder of the evening.
"We had some careless offensive plays toward the end of the first half that I felt had we got a couple more baskets it could have been a five- or six-point game at the half as opposed to 13," McDevitt stated. "Two or three mistakes on both sides of the ball where I thought we were making a run and we could have had it a little bit tighter there at halftime, but I am really proud of our team."
Green and Scurry led the way offensively for Middle Tennessee with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Karl Gamble pitched in nine with a pair of dunks on the evening. James Hawthorne led the charge on the glass with six boards while Sims dished out five assists to just one turnover.
Despite the daunting task of facing a Top 5 team, the Blue Raiders maintained their composure throughout, falling by the final margin of 22 with their season low turnover total (15) against perhaps the best defensive team in college basketball.
"We talk about toughness and effort daily in practice, shootarounds and games," McDevitt added. "You have to show a lot of toughness and effort. When you're down 20 to a team that's capable of winning the national championship with 10 minutes to go in the first half, it could get ugly.
"Having as many young players as we do, watching Jayce Johnson, Anthony Crump and Junior Farquhar – three true freshman guards – guard some high-level perimeter players for Virginia, you just can't replicate that kind of experience that they got out there tonight in practice. You could watch our team growing up right in front of our eyes and hopefully we can continue to do that."
Now Middle Tennessee must turn their attention to Butler, who dropped their opening game to Dayton, 69-64. The Raiders and Bulldogs will tip at 8:30 p.m. CT Thanksgiving Day on ESPNU.
The Blue Raiders put up a fight throughout the evening despite having to battle back from large deficits early on.
On a night where the Blue Raiders would need to be near perfect, a nightmare of a start put them in a hole that appeared it may be tough to overcome.
"Tonight, playing a team as good as Virginia, we just didn't execute enough on both sides of the ball to win a game like this," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "I told our team I thought our effort was good enough to win. We just didn't execute enough on both sides of the ball."
After a 9-0 start by the Cavaliers, Reggie Scurry finally got the Raiders on the board with a pair of free throws four and a half minutes in. Another UVA run would put MT down 21-6 before leading scorer Antonio Green knocked down a triple from straight away nine minutes in.
The efficient and defensive-minded Cavalier squad eventually opened up a 30-9 lead, its largest of the first half, but then the inexperienced Blue Raiders began to fight through some growing pains and climb back into the contest.
A 10-0 Blue Raider run closed the gap to 11 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by sophomore Donovan Sims and MT would close the gap to nine at the 2:04 mark before going into the locker room trailing 38-25.
Middle Tennessee came out of the break looking to keep making a game of it with an early 5-0 run courtesy of Green and Scurry, cutting the Virginia lead to 38-30.
The highly-ranked Cavaliers quickly pulled back away, however, spreading the lead out to 17 on a 9-0 run and wouldn't allow Middle Tennessee back within single digits for the remainder of the evening.
"We had some careless offensive plays toward the end of the first half that I felt had we got a couple more baskets it could have been a five- or six-point game at the half as opposed to 13," McDevitt stated. "Two or three mistakes on both sides of the ball where I thought we were making a run and we could have had it a little bit tighter there at halftime, but I am really proud of our team."
Green and Scurry led the way offensively for Middle Tennessee with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Karl Gamble pitched in nine with a pair of dunks on the evening. James Hawthorne led the charge on the glass with six boards while Sims dished out five assists to just one turnover.
Despite the daunting task of facing a Top 5 team, the Blue Raiders maintained their composure throughout, falling by the final margin of 22 with their season low turnover total (15) against perhaps the best defensive team in college basketball.
"We talk about toughness and effort daily in practice, shootarounds and games," McDevitt added. "You have to show a lot of toughness and effort. When you're down 20 to a team that's capable of winning the national championship with 10 minutes to go in the first half, it could get ugly.
"Having as many young players as we do, watching Jayce Johnson, Anthony Crump and Junior Farquhar – three true freshman guards – guard some high-level perimeter players for Virginia, you just can't replicate that kind of experience that they got out there tonight in practice. You could watch our team growing up right in front of our eyes and hopefully we can continue to do that."
Now Middle Tennessee must turn their attention to Butler, who dropped their opening game to Dayton, 69-64. The Raiders and Bulldogs will tip at 8:30 p.m. CT Thanksgiving Day on ESPNU.
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
