Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 30
Murfreesboro, TN
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
6-16, 3-6
71
vs
65
UAB
14-8, 6-3
1
2
F
UAB
33
32
65
Middle Tennessee
33
38
71
Team Stats
UAB
MT
FG%
.411
.439
3FG%
.211
.400
FT%
.682
.611
RB
32
41
TO
11
16
STL
11
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballBlue Raiders take down streaking Blazers
1/30/2019 9:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The red-hot UAB Blazers made the short trip from Birmingham to Murfreesboro Wednesday to take on Middle Tennessee and went home extinguished.
UAB (14-8, 6-3 Conference USA) went into the night tied with North Texas and UTSA atop the Conference USA standings and riding a four-game win streak, while the Blue Raiders (6-16, 3-6 C-USA) were a half-game ahead of last-place Charlotte and losers of two straight.
The matchup was much closer than the teams' place in the standings, though, and ended in upset style 71-65 in favor of the home team. It was MT's second time this season taking down a team that was leading the league.
"I thought our guys did a nice job tonight on both sides of the ball," Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt said. "They're tough and gritty, but I thought our team was also tough and gritty … and it was a great team win for us."
After a seesaw game of runs, a hometown hero drained what was the decider for Middle Tennessee.
With 38 seconds left in the contest and the shot clock waning, sophomore Donovan Sims stepped up to hit maybe the biggest shot of his young career. He dribbled right across the top of the arc, then after a crossover dribble between his legs, stepped back and drained a 3-pointer over a Blazer defender as the buzzer sounded.
The triple gave MT a 68-63 lead it wouldn't relinquish. Sims finished with team-highs in points (19), rebounds (nine) and assists (four) and added two steals, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-7 from distance.
"I saw seven seconds left on the shot clock … and did a little between-the-legs step back, made sure I was behind the three, and the shot felt good," Sims said. "Right when I let it go, I knew it was going in."
The game of runs started in the first half, as Middle Tennessee grabbed a 20-15 advantage after scoring 12 straight, then UAB answered later with an 11-2 streak.
At the half, the scoreboard was knotted at 33, an exciting finish imminent.
It was UAB that got the upper hand to start the second half, using a 9-0 run to take a 42-35 lead with 17:03 remaining, but the game was far from over.
By the time the clock ticked under 9:30 left, MT had flipped the script, going up 56-49 after freshman Jayce Johnson sunk a layup for his 11th point, the fourth Blue Raider to reach double-figure scoring in the contest.
The Blazers cut the deficit to as little as three, but couldn't get any closer as Middle Tennessee's defense clamped down. UAB managed to make just two of its final 10 shots in the last 5 ½ minutes, finishing with a shooting percentage of 41.1 and just 33.3 (10-30) in the second half.
"We played a few different [defenses] down the stretch, trying to keep them a little off balance," McDevitt said, "and we never had a possession where our guys didn't know what we were in. You have to do that against quality players … and I just thought we were alert on that end of the floor."
Sims was the star late for Middle Tennessee, but it was an all-around effort offensively from the Blue Raiders.
Junior Antonio Green had 17 points and six rebounds, hitting four threes and committing zero turnovers in 36 minutes played. Junior Reggie Scurry added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Johnson had 11 points.
The balanced scoring will be key for the Blue Raiders moving forward.
"Everybody is coming together as a group, doing the right things on the court and off the court," Johnson said. "This conference is tough … staying together and being tough through the whole night is how you're going to get wins."
Middle Tennessee will look to push its winning streak over UAB to six games on Saturday, when the teams finish their back-to-back matchups in Birmingham. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
UAB (14-8, 6-3 Conference USA) went into the night tied with North Texas and UTSA atop the Conference USA standings and riding a four-game win streak, while the Blue Raiders (6-16, 3-6 C-USA) were a half-game ahead of last-place Charlotte and losers of two straight.
The matchup was much closer than the teams' place in the standings, though, and ended in upset style 71-65 in favor of the home team. It was MT's second time this season taking down a team that was leading the league.
"I thought our guys did a nice job tonight on both sides of the ball," Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt said. "They're tough and gritty, but I thought our team was also tough and gritty … and it was a great team win for us."
After a seesaw game of runs, a hometown hero drained what was the decider for Middle Tennessee.
With 38 seconds left in the contest and the shot clock waning, sophomore Donovan Sims stepped up to hit maybe the biggest shot of his young career. He dribbled right across the top of the arc, then after a crossover dribble between his legs, stepped back and drained a 3-pointer over a Blazer defender as the buzzer sounded.
The triple gave MT a 68-63 lead it wouldn't relinquish. Sims finished with team-highs in points (19), rebounds (nine) and assists (four) and added two steals, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-7 from distance.
"I saw seven seconds left on the shot clock … and did a little between-the-legs step back, made sure I was behind the three, and the shot felt good," Sims said. "Right when I let it go, I knew it was going in."
The game of runs started in the first half, as Middle Tennessee grabbed a 20-15 advantage after scoring 12 straight, then UAB answered later with an 11-2 streak.
At the half, the scoreboard was knotted at 33, an exciting finish imminent.
It was UAB that got the upper hand to start the second half, using a 9-0 run to take a 42-35 lead with 17:03 remaining, but the game was far from over.
By the time the clock ticked under 9:30 left, MT had flipped the script, going up 56-49 after freshman Jayce Johnson sunk a layup for his 11th point, the fourth Blue Raider to reach double-figure scoring in the contest.
The Blazers cut the deficit to as little as three, but couldn't get any closer as Middle Tennessee's defense clamped down. UAB managed to make just two of its final 10 shots in the last 5 ½ minutes, finishing with a shooting percentage of 41.1 and just 33.3 (10-30) in the second half.
"We played a few different [defenses] down the stretch, trying to keep them a little off balance," McDevitt said, "and we never had a possession where our guys didn't know what we were in. You have to do that against quality players … and I just thought we were alert on that end of the floor."
Sims was the star late for Middle Tennessee, but it was an all-around effort offensively from the Blue Raiders.
Junior Antonio Green had 17 points and six rebounds, hitting four threes and committing zero turnovers in 36 minutes played. Junior Reggie Scurry added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Johnson had 11 points.
The balanced scoring will be key for the Blue Raiders moving forward.
"Everybody is coming together as a group, doing the right things on the court and off the court," Johnson said. "This conference is tough … staying together and being tough through the whole night is how you're going to get wins."
Middle Tennessee will look to push its winning streak over UAB to six games on Saturday, when the teams finish their back-to-back matchups in Birmingham. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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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
Monday, June 30
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
