Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, December 14
Oxford, Miss
2:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-47,00 CUSA
64
at
82
Ole Miss
7-3,0-0SEC
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
31
33
64
Ole Miss
48
34
82
Team Stats
MT
OM
FG%
.441
.528
3FG%
.167
.636
FT%
.500
.750
RB
32
35
TO
12
14
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Raiders battle in second half but fall at Ole Miss
12/14/2019 4:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. – A short-handed Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball team was on the wrong end of another in a long series of challenging road contests Saturday, falling to Southeastern Conference opponent Ole Miss, 82-64.
Former Blue Raider head man Kermit Davis' squad came out hot in the Pavilion, taking a 9-0 lead before freshman Tyson Jackson got MT on the board three minutes in.
The Raiders battled a flurry of Ole Miss 3-pointers early and often as the Rebels opened the game hitting 8 of their first 9 triples to take a 36-18 lead at the 8:45 mark.
Arkansas transfer C.J. Jones was determined to keep his team in the game against one of his former league foes from his time in the SEC. The sweet-shooting guard hit 6 of his first 8 attempts to boast 13 points thru 11 minutes of action.
After picking up his second foul just a couple of plays later, however, Jones was forced to the bench and was replaced by a banged up Jayce Johnson. With their hottest shooter off the floor, the Raiders would need to buckle down on defense to close the gap before half.
While the overall defensive effort was improved from MT's last time out in the first frame, Ole Miss senior Breein Tyree refused to be contained and went into the break with 25 points on 7 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Between Tyree's hot start from three and MT's 1 for 7 mark from three and 2 for 8 mark from the free throw line, the deficit remained in double digits as Ole Miss held a 48-31 lead at halftime.
Back on the floor to start the second half, Jones was ready to pick up where he left off before the break. The 6-foot-5 junior connected on a pair of trifectas in MT's first three trips down the floor to quickly cut the deficit to 11.
After a 1 for 2 trip to the free throw line by Ole Miss, Donovan Sims answered with a driving layup over 6-foot-10 Rebel center Khadim Sy to get the Blue Raiders within 10 at 49-39 with 17 minutes to play.
While Sims was beginning to heat up, the Rebels wouldn't let up on the offensive end either and were able to keep MT at arm's length as the game clock rolled under 12 minutes.
Ole Miss then went on a 13-2 tear over a four-minute stretch that killed the momentum the Blue Raiders had begun to build inside the Pavilion, leaving them 23 down with eight minutes to play.
To their credit, Head Coach Nick McDevitt's squad wouldn't give in just yet and responded with a 8-0 run of their own, a stretch that made it a 15-point game with 5:27 on the clock.
With a young squad and a short bench, however, it would prove to be too much to overcome down the stretch as the Rebels closed out the final five minutes with 10 more points to seal the win on their home court.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of fight and effort today," McDevitt said. "When you're on the road against a team like this in an environment like this it's always going to be tough to win.
"We let Tyree get loose early and that hurt us, but we battled and did a lot of good things in the second half and we're going to keep getting better."
Jones finished the afternoon with a career-high matching 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting and added four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Jackson and Sims added 14 apiece, with Jackson adding a game-high eight rebounds to his career-high scoring effort while Sims dished out seven assists.
Middle Tennessee returns home a week from today, hosting St. Bonaventure in Murphy Center at 2:00 p.m.
McDevitt and co. will also have reinforcements coming to an already improving squad in their upcoming contest, as senior Reggie Scurry returns to the court while junior Jo'Vontae Millner also hopes to be back from injury.
Former Blue Raider head man Kermit Davis' squad came out hot in the Pavilion, taking a 9-0 lead before freshman Tyson Jackson got MT on the board three minutes in.
The Raiders battled a flurry of Ole Miss 3-pointers early and often as the Rebels opened the game hitting 8 of their first 9 triples to take a 36-18 lead at the 8:45 mark.
Arkansas transfer C.J. Jones was determined to keep his team in the game against one of his former league foes from his time in the SEC. The sweet-shooting guard hit 6 of his first 8 attempts to boast 13 points thru 11 minutes of action.
After picking up his second foul just a couple of plays later, however, Jones was forced to the bench and was replaced by a banged up Jayce Johnson. With their hottest shooter off the floor, the Raiders would need to buckle down on defense to close the gap before half.
While the overall defensive effort was improved from MT's last time out in the first frame, Ole Miss senior Breein Tyree refused to be contained and went into the break with 25 points on 7 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Between Tyree's hot start from three and MT's 1 for 7 mark from three and 2 for 8 mark from the free throw line, the deficit remained in double digits as Ole Miss held a 48-31 lead at halftime.
Back on the floor to start the second half, Jones was ready to pick up where he left off before the break. The 6-foot-5 junior connected on a pair of trifectas in MT's first three trips down the floor to quickly cut the deficit to 11.
After a 1 for 2 trip to the free throw line by Ole Miss, Donovan Sims answered with a driving layup over 6-foot-10 Rebel center Khadim Sy to get the Blue Raiders within 10 at 49-39 with 17 minutes to play.
While Sims was beginning to heat up, the Rebels wouldn't let up on the offensive end either and were able to keep MT at arm's length as the game clock rolled under 12 minutes.
Ole Miss then went on a 13-2 tear over a four-minute stretch that killed the momentum the Blue Raiders had begun to build inside the Pavilion, leaving them 23 down with eight minutes to play.
To their credit, Head Coach Nick McDevitt's squad wouldn't give in just yet and responded with a 8-0 run of their own, a stretch that made it a 15-point game with 5:27 on the clock.
With a young squad and a short bench, however, it would prove to be too much to overcome down the stretch as the Rebels closed out the final five minutes with 10 more points to seal the win on their home court.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of fight and effort today," McDevitt said. "When you're on the road against a team like this in an environment like this it's always going to be tough to win.
"We let Tyree get loose early and that hurt us, but we battled and did a lot of good things in the second half and we're going to keep getting better."
Jones finished the afternoon with a career-high matching 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting and added four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Jackson and Sims added 14 apiece, with Jackson adding a game-high eight rebounds to his career-high scoring effort while Sims dished out seven assists.
Middle Tennessee returns home a week from today, hosting St. Bonaventure in Murphy Center at 2:00 p.m.
McDevitt and co. will also have reinforcements coming to an already improving squad in their upcoming contest, as senior Reggie Scurry returns to the court while junior Jo'Vontae Millner also hopes to be back from injury.
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
