Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Thursday, January 10
Hattiesburg, MS
7:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-313, 03 CUSA
70
at
77
Southern Miss
-97, 13 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
25
45
70
Southern Miss
33
44
77
Team Stats
MT
USM
FG%
.453
.491
3FG%
.391
.500
FT%
.722
.765
RB
28
34
TO
12
12
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
12
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballCareer night from Sims not enough in Hattiesburg
1/10/2019 10:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murfreesboro native pours in 28 points at Southern Miss
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – On a night when Donovan Sims showed out and Middle Tennessee handed over a season-low 12 turnovers, a hot-shooting Southern Miss team was able to fend off a second half surge by the Blue Raiders to earn a 77-70 win on its home court.
The young Raiders showed perhaps the most second half fight they have all season Thursday evening, swapping roles from past games as the team aggressively chasing down their opponent rather than hoping to hold them off.
Sims, Middle Tennessee's homegrown product, poured in an extremely efficient 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting from the floor and hit 4 of 6 3-point attempts on the evening. The Murfreesboro native also pulled down four rebounds, tallied three steals and had three assists to just one turnover.
Reggie Scurry gave MT another efficient offensive performance with 15 points on just six shots with a 6 for 8 mark from the free throw line and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Sims, after an excellent shooting performance during shootaround earlier in the day, was the only thing MT had going for it early on. The sophomore point guard scored the first six points for the Raiders to get them going, but trailed 10-6 at the first media timeout.
Senior Karl Gamble connected on a pair of free throws after the breather to close the gap to two, but Southern Miss was able to hold a multiple-possession lead for the next seven minutes until an alley-oop from Sims to Reggie Scurry and a Sims 3-pointer made the score 20-17 at the under-8 media timeout.
The Golden Eagles quickly answered, however, opening up a lead as large as 11 before going into the locker room with a 33-25 lead over the visiting Blue Raiders.
In hopes of sparking a second half comeback, Gamble got MT on the board quickly after the break with a basket on the first possession of the half while Scurry's first triple of the season on the next trip down the court matched a USM triple to keep MT within six, 36-30.
After Scurry went 1 for 2 at the free throw line, Southern Miss reeled off an 11-0 run and looked to have taken control inside Reed Green Coliseum as the 16-point lead was the largest of the game, but Middle Tennessee would slowly chip away over the next 12 minutes.
Coming out of the final media timeout and having floated about 10 points back of the Golden Eagles for several minutes, Sims knocked in a corner three that pulled MT within six for the first time in 15 minutes of game action with under three minutes remaining.
Just as the momentum appeared to be in Middle Tennessee's favor, however, Southern Miss struck back with five consecutive points to bring the score to 70-59 with just 1:42 remaining. The Blue Raiders wouldn't give up, pouring in 11 points over the last minute and a half but couldn't get enough stops on the other end to catch their opponents, falling by the final margin of seven points.
Leading scorer Antonio Green (19.3) helped Sims lead the late surge with 10 second half points after being held scoreless in the first period while fellow Mississippi native James Hawthorne collected seven points and four rebounds on the evening.
Middle Tennessee is back in action Saturday as they complete their first league road trip of the season with a 4:00 p.m. tip at Louisiana Tech.
The young Raiders showed perhaps the most second half fight they have all season Thursday evening, swapping roles from past games as the team aggressively chasing down their opponent rather than hoping to hold them off.
Sims, Middle Tennessee's homegrown product, poured in an extremely efficient 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting from the floor and hit 4 of 6 3-point attempts on the evening. The Murfreesboro native also pulled down four rebounds, tallied three steals and had three assists to just one turnover.
Reggie Scurry gave MT another efficient offensive performance with 15 points on just six shots with a 6 for 8 mark from the free throw line and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Sims, after an excellent shooting performance during shootaround earlier in the day, was the only thing MT had going for it early on. The sophomore point guard scored the first six points for the Raiders to get them going, but trailed 10-6 at the first media timeout.
Senior Karl Gamble connected on a pair of free throws after the breather to close the gap to two, but Southern Miss was able to hold a multiple-possession lead for the next seven minutes until an alley-oop from Sims to Reggie Scurry and a Sims 3-pointer made the score 20-17 at the under-8 media timeout.
The Golden Eagles quickly answered, however, opening up a lead as large as 11 before going into the locker room with a 33-25 lead over the visiting Blue Raiders.
In hopes of sparking a second half comeback, Gamble got MT on the board quickly after the break with a basket on the first possession of the half while Scurry's first triple of the season on the next trip down the court matched a USM triple to keep MT within six, 36-30.
After Scurry went 1 for 2 at the free throw line, Southern Miss reeled off an 11-0 run and looked to have taken control inside Reed Green Coliseum as the 16-point lead was the largest of the game, but Middle Tennessee would slowly chip away over the next 12 minutes.
Coming out of the final media timeout and having floated about 10 points back of the Golden Eagles for several minutes, Sims knocked in a corner three that pulled MT within six for the first time in 15 minutes of game action with under three minutes remaining.
Just as the momentum appeared to be in Middle Tennessee's favor, however, Southern Miss struck back with five consecutive points to bring the score to 70-59 with just 1:42 remaining. The Blue Raiders wouldn't give up, pouring in 11 points over the last minute and a half but couldn't get enough stops on the other end to catch their opponents, falling by the final margin of seven points.
Leading scorer Antonio Green (19.3) helped Sims lead the late surge with 10 second half points after being held scoreless in the first period while fellow Mississippi native James Hawthorne collected seven points and four rebounds on the evening.
Middle Tennessee is back in action Saturday as they complete their first league road trip of the season with a 4:00 p.m. tip at Louisiana Tech.
2025 MTSU Basketball tickets on sale now - October 1st
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Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
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2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
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MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
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