Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, December 1
Murfreesboro, TN
5 PM
Middle Tennessee
3-5
74
vs
84
Lipscomb
6-1
1
2
F
Lipscomb
37
47
84
Middle Tennessee
38
36
74
Team Stats
LIP
MT
FG%
.474
.439
3FG%
.308
.409
FT%
.759
.833
RB
31
35
TO
9
17
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
10
3FGM
7
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballBlue Raiders fall short against Lipscomb
12/1/2018 7:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Green goes for 30 as Johnson adds career-high 16
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A continuously improving Blue Raider basketball squad fell short Saturday night, dropping a home contest to in-state foe Lipscomb by a final score of 84-74.
The Blue Raiders continue to battle farther and farther into games against tough competition, sitting within single digits of the reigning ASUN champion Bisons approaching the evening's final media timeout.
"Lipscomb looks and acts like a veteran team, but these games will continue to be good experience for us moving forward," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said.
Junior Antonio Green exploded for 30 points Saturday night, going 10 for 23 from the field and knocking in 7 of 13 attempts from downtown.
Freshman Jayce Johnson continues to look better every night out as the former quarterback scored a career-high 16 points, 14 of which came after halftime, with a 6-for-7 mark from the charity stripe.
"It started with Stanford, I just kind of got in a groove that game and that carried over to tonight," Johnson said. "Antonio's game helps me out a lot, too, because he really spaces the floor well."
"Jayce just does all the things that we ask of him and that we value," McDevitt stated. "He's a tough-minded young man who plays within himself and has been a great leader. Our team is better with him on the floor."
After the opening tip went bouncing out of bounds on the sideline, Middle Tennessee surrendered a turnover to give Lipscomb a quick 2-0 lead in the opening seconds but freshman Jayce Johnson, making his first career start, answered right away for the Blue Raiders on the ensuing possession.
Less than a minute later, junior Antonio Green went on a quick 5-0 run all on his own before Lipscomb start Garrison Mathews got himself to the free throw line to tie things back up at nine apiece.
As the Bisons began to get some shots to fall as they so regularly do, they opened up their largest lead of the first half at 20-14 and again at 26-20.
Middle Tennessee battled, though, and wouldn't succumb early to the runs that have doomed them early in the season as back-to-back triples by Green knotted things back up at 26.
Middle Tennessee and Lipscomb would trade blows for the remainder of the half leading into the final possession of the half when an Antonio Green runner in the lane plus the free throw gave the Blue Raiders a 38-37 advantage at the break.
The first half featured big and timely shots by each team's leading scorer as Green poured in 21 in the opening 20 minutes while Mathews tallied 15 for Lipscomb.
The Bisons landed the first punch after the break as a 6-0 run gave them a 5-point advantage over the Blue Raiders just 32 seconds into the second frame.
Johnson almost single-handedly kept Middle Tennessee in the contest as he scored eight of the first 10 MT points in the half to bring the score to 49-48 in favor of Lipscomb.
It was at that point that the talented Bisons squad that returned nearly all of its 2018 NCAA Tournament team began to wear down the young and short-handed Blue Raiders.
Lipscomb runs of 9-2 and 10-3, separated only by a Karl Gamble 3-pointer, saw the Bisons lead grow to 12 with 8:45 remaining in the contest.
As the Bisons went up 13 less than a minute later, Green began to heat up once again for Middle Tennessee.
A pair of Green triples down the stretch kept the Blue Raiders alive while a couple of James Hawthorne free throws closed the gap to seven at 76-69 with 4:23 remaining, but MT ran out of gas on the offensive end as Lipscomb closed the contest on a 11-5 run to earn a 10-point win.
"I thought we had a couple of turnovers late tonight that were just tired turnovers and there's not much we can do about that other than focus a little more, but that's tough when we have guys in foul trouble as well," McDevitt stated.
"Being tired and weak-minded has hurt us a little bit, but if we clean that up we can play with anybody in the league," Johnson added.
Middle Tennessee is back in action Wednesday night as they hit the road to face their fourth Nashville foe of the season in the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The Blue Raiders continue to battle farther and farther into games against tough competition, sitting within single digits of the reigning ASUN champion Bisons approaching the evening's final media timeout.
"Lipscomb looks and acts like a veteran team, but these games will continue to be good experience for us moving forward," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said.
Junior Antonio Green exploded for 30 points Saturday night, going 10 for 23 from the field and knocking in 7 of 13 attempts from downtown.
Freshman Jayce Johnson continues to look better every night out as the former quarterback scored a career-high 16 points, 14 of which came after halftime, with a 6-for-7 mark from the charity stripe.
"It started with Stanford, I just kind of got in a groove that game and that carried over to tonight," Johnson said. "Antonio's game helps me out a lot, too, because he really spaces the floor well."
"Jayce just does all the things that we ask of him and that we value," McDevitt stated. "He's a tough-minded young man who plays within himself and has been a great leader. Our team is better with him on the floor."
After the opening tip went bouncing out of bounds on the sideline, Middle Tennessee surrendered a turnover to give Lipscomb a quick 2-0 lead in the opening seconds but freshman Jayce Johnson, making his first career start, answered right away for the Blue Raiders on the ensuing possession.
Less than a minute later, junior Antonio Green went on a quick 5-0 run all on his own before Lipscomb start Garrison Mathews got himself to the free throw line to tie things back up at nine apiece.
As the Bisons began to get some shots to fall as they so regularly do, they opened up their largest lead of the first half at 20-14 and again at 26-20.
Middle Tennessee battled, though, and wouldn't succumb early to the runs that have doomed them early in the season as back-to-back triples by Green knotted things back up at 26.
Middle Tennessee and Lipscomb would trade blows for the remainder of the half leading into the final possession of the half when an Antonio Green runner in the lane plus the free throw gave the Blue Raiders a 38-37 advantage at the break.
The first half featured big and timely shots by each team's leading scorer as Green poured in 21 in the opening 20 minutes while Mathews tallied 15 for Lipscomb.
The Bisons landed the first punch after the break as a 6-0 run gave them a 5-point advantage over the Blue Raiders just 32 seconds into the second frame.
Johnson almost single-handedly kept Middle Tennessee in the contest as he scored eight of the first 10 MT points in the half to bring the score to 49-48 in favor of Lipscomb.
It was at that point that the talented Bisons squad that returned nearly all of its 2018 NCAA Tournament team began to wear down the young and short-handed Blue Raiders.
Lipscomb runs of 9-2 and 10-3, separated only by a Karl Gamble 3-pointer, saw the Bisons lead grow to 12 with 8:45 remaining in the contest.
As the Bisons went up 13 less than a minute later, Green began to heat up once again for Middle Tennessee.
A pair of Green triples down the stretch kept the Blue Raiders alive while a couple of James Hawthorne free throws closed the gap to seven at 76-69 with 4:23 remaining, but MT ran out of gas on the offensive end as Lipscomb closed the contest on a 11-5 run to earn a 10-point win.
"I thought we had a couple of turnovers late tonight that were just tired turnovers and there's not much we can do about that other than focus a little more, but that's tough when we have guys in foul trouble as well," McDevitt stated.
"Being tired and weak-minded has hurt us a little bit, but if we clean that up we can play with anybody in the league," Johnson added.
Middle Tennessee is back in action Wednesday night as they hit the road to face their fourth Nashville foe of the season in the Vanderbilt Commodores.
2025 MTSU Basketball tickets on sale now - October 1st
Wednesday, October 01
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
