Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, February 17
Ruston, LA
6 PM
Middle Tennessee
22-5 (14-1)
87
at
70
LA Tech
16-12 (7-8)
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
39
48
87
Louisiana Tech
33
37
70
Team Stats
MT
TECH
FG%
.466
.380
3FG%
.522
.429
FT%
.955
.690
RB
44
25
TO
16
14
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Donny Crowe
Raiders set school record with 12th road win
2/17/2018 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MT moves to 14-1 in league play with first win at LA Tech
RUSTON, La. – Middle Tennessee logged its first ever win at LA Tech Saturday night to land its school record 12th true road win of the season, downing the Bulldogs 87-70 in the Thomas Assembly Center.
The win also gave head coach Kermit Davis his 400th career victory as a Division I head coach.
MT (22-5, 14-1) outrebounded LA Tech (16-12, 7-8) 44-25 on the night with an impressive 18 boards coming on the offensive glass. The Raiders also shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the floor, 52.2 percent (12-23) from three and 95.5 percent (21-22) from the charity stripe.
After going down 5-2 in the opening minutes, Davis called a 30 second timeout to settle his squad down. Senior Nick King responded right away, going on a personal 5-0 run in the next two possessions to give MT the lead.
King and junior Antwain Johnson, who came in averaging 12.9 points per game on 52 percent shooting since entering the starting lineup on Jan. 20 at WKU, accounted for the first 14 Blue Raider points with seven each on a combined 5-of-5 from the floor as MT opened up an early 5-point lead.
After a LA Tech field goal cut the lead to two, MT opened up a 9-0 run while holding the Bulldogs scoreless for over four minutes. Senior Brandon Walters started the run off by cleaning up on the offensive glass for a basket plus one before 3-pointers by King and Edward Simpson extended the lead to 28-17.
The Bulldog defense responded by holding the Raiders scoreless for just over three minutes, but scored just four points in the span before King ended the drought with a jumper.
Down nine with 5:00 remaining in the half, the Bulldog offense began to pick up steam and in doing so ignited their home crowd of 4,847. LA Tech tallied 12 points in that span to eventually crawl within three before a Giddy Potts 3-pointer with eight seconds left sent the Blue Raiders to the locker room with a 39-33 lead.
King led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while LA Tech senior Jacobi Boykins dropped in 13 before the break to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.
Middle Tennessee saw a lineup change after the break as sophomore Tyrik Dixon was being checked for a concussion and freshman guard and Blackman High School product Donovan Sims answered the call admirably.
Sims played 17 of his career-high 23 minutes in the second half, finishing the night with five points, five rebounds and four assists.
"Donovan really settled in and made some great plays for us," Davis said of his freshman point guard. "He really sees the floor well but what he did tonight, too, was guard the ball really well. I am very proud of his play tonight."
Potts opened the half with a pair of free throws before a LA Tech 3-pointer cut the lead to five.
The Blue Raiders then reeled off an electrifying 16-0 run while holding the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly six minutes. The run, which gave MT a 57-36 lead, was fueled by eight points from Walters, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his second career double-double.
Just as MT looked to have things under control with a 20-point lead an 10:44 remaining, the Bulldogs caught fire.
LA Tech opened up an 8-0 run in just over a minute to cut their deficit to 12 and weren't finished there.
After Middle Tennessee pushed its lead back to 17, the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run to pull all the way back within six at 69-63 after trailing by 21 less than five minutes earlier.
With the game once again hanging in the balance, Davis immediately went to his C-USA Player of the Year candidate. King dropped in a bucket and one to stop the bleeding and get the Blue Raider offense back on track.
Karl Gamble extended the lead back to double-digits with a free throw on the next possession and it was all Blue Raiders from that point on as an 18-7 advantage down the stretch led to the 17-point win.
"It was a tough fight and (LA Tech) played their tails of tonight like we knew they would," senior Giddy Potts said. "Nick, Brandon and Antwain really stepped up for us and played great basketball tonight."
King notched his 10th double-double of the season on the night, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson added 18 points while Potts finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
"This was one of our most complete games of the season," Davis added. "We got out of sorts a little bit in the second half but were able to withstand their scoring runs."
Middle Tennessee closes out the season with a trio of home games against UAB (Feb. 24), WKU (Mar. 1) and Marshall (Mar. 3). Next Saturday's contest against UAB tips at 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast by Stadium.
The win also gave head coach Kermit Davis his 400th career victory as a Division I head coach.
MT (22-5, 14-1) outrebounded LA Tech (16-12, 7-8) 44-25 on the night with an impressive 18 boards coming on the offensive glass. The Raiders also shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the floor, 52.2 percent (12-23) from three and 95.5 percent (21-22) from the charity stripe.
After going down 5-2 in the opening minutes, Davis called a 30 second timeout to settle his squad down. Senior Nick King responded right away, going on a personal 5-0 run in the next two possessions to give MT the lead.
King and junior Antwain Johnson, who came in averaging 12.9 points per game on 52 percent shooting since entering the starting lineup on Jan. 20 at WKU, accounted for the first 14 Blue Raider points with seven each on a combined 5-of-5 from the floor as MT opened up an early 5-point lead.
After a LA Tech field goal cut the lead to two, MT opened up a 9-0 run while holding the Bulldogs scoreless for over four minutes. Senior Brandon Walters started the run off by cleaning up on the offensive glass for a basket plus one before 3-pointers by King and Edward Simpson extended the lead to 28-17.
The Bulldog defense responded by holding the Raiders scoreless for just over three minutes, but scored just four points in the span before King ended the drought with a jumper.
Down nine with 5:00 remaining in the half, the Bulldog offense began to pick up steam and in doing so ignited their home crowd of 4,847. LA Tech tallied 12 points in that span to eventually crawl within three before a Giddy Potts 3-pointer with eight seconds left sent the Blue Raiders to the locker room with a 39-33 lead.
King led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while LA Tech senior Jacobi Boykins dropped in 13 before the break to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.
Middle Tennessee saw a lineup change after the break as sophomore Tyrik Dixon was being checked for a concussion and freshman guard and Blackman High School product Donovan Sims answered the call admirably.
Sims played 17 of his career-high 23 minutes in the second half, finishing the night with five points, five rebounds and four assists.
"Donovan really settled in and made some great plays for us," Davis said of his freshman point guard. "He really sees the floor well but what he did tonight, too, was guard the ball really well. I am very proud of his play tonight."
Potts opened the half with a pair of free throws before a LA Tech 3-pointer cut the lead to five.
The Blue Raiders then reeled off an electrifying 16-0 run while holding the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly six minutes. The run, which gave MT a 57-36 lead, was fueled by eight points from Walters, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his second career double-double.
Just as MT looked to have things under control with a 20-point lead an 10:44 remaining, the Bulldogs caught fire.
LA Tech opened up an 8-0 run in just over a minute to cut their deficit to 12 and weren't finished there.
After Middle Tennessee pushed its lead back to 17, the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run to pull all the way back within six at 69-63 after trailing by 21 less than five minutes earlier.
With the game once again hanging in the balance, Davis immediately went to his C-USA Player of the Year candidate. King dropped in a bucket and one to stop the bleeding and get the Blue Raider offense back on track.
Karl Gamble extended the lead back to double-digits with a free throw on the next possession and it was all Blue Raiders from that point on as an 18-7 advantage down the stretch led to the 17-point win.
"It was a tough fight and (LA Tech) played their tails of tonight like we knew they would," senior Giddy Potts said. "Nick, Brandon and Antwain really stepped up for us and played great basketball tonight."
King notched his 10th double-double of the season on the night, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson added 18 points while Potts finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
"This was one of our most complete games of the season," Davis added. "We got out of sorts a little bit in the second half but were able to withstand their scoring runs."
Middle Tennessee closes out the season with a trio of home games against UAB (Feb. 24), WKU (Mar. 1) and Marshall (Mar. 3). Next Saturday's contest against UAB tips at 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast by Stadium.
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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
