Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 6
El Paso, TX
8:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
10-20, 7-10CUSA
69
at
53
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UTEP
-820, 314 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
38
31
69
UTEP
19
34
53
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
MT
UTEP
FG%
.429
.328
3FG%
.400
.190
FT%
.538
.579
RB
51
33
TO
13
11
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
Raiders roll to big win at UTEP
3/6/2019 10:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Green, Hawthorne combine for 44
EL PASO, Texas – Middle Tennessee's pair of Mississippi products shined bright in El Paso Wednesday night as the Blue Raiders cruised to a 69-53 win at UTEP behind a combined 44 points from Antonio Green and James Hawthorne.
Green poured in 26 thanks to five 3-pointers to collect his 16th 20-point game of the season while Hawthorne came up just shy of his career high with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and hit 3-of-4 trifectas on the night while pulling down eight rebounds.
Reggie Scurry added 15 points of his own to go along with seven rebounds while freshman Jayce Johnson was a monster on the glass with a career-high 13 boards.
The Blue Raiders were able to correct the early issues faced just three days ago at Rice, getting off to an 8-0 start inside the Don Haskins Center after a pair of triples by Green opened the scoring.
The two 3-pointers gave Green 100 on the season, making him just the 15th player in Conference USA men's basketball history to reach the milestone in a single season.
Middle Tennessee continued to assert its dominance throughout the first half, opening up a 14-point lead after Hawthorne knocked in a pair of 3-pointers from right in front of the UTEP bench.
When the first half was all said and done, MT carried a 19-point advantage into the locker room with the scoreboard reading 38-19.
The Raiders collected an incredible 31 rebounds before the break, 12 of which were on the offensive glass and 10 of which were collected by Jayce Johnson to match his career high.
While the UTEP defense appeared to have clamped down to start the second half, holding MT scoreless for the first four minutes following the break, the Blue Raiders quickly got back into a rhythm and opened up a 20-point lead with 15:54 remaining in the game.
"I thought our guys were just locked in tonight to make the right plays," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "When you're up 19 you've got to keep doing the things that got you that 19-point lead, and tonight we did a good job of that."
The scoring continued to pick up from that point on as Green and Hawthorne kept pouring it in from downtown. Back-to-back triples from the two as the game clock rolled under six minutes had the Blue Raiders on top 63-35.
After a Scurry's 47th dunk of the season less than a minute later, UTEP finally showed a little life as they opened up a 9-0 run to get back within 20, but it would be too little too late for the Miners with just two minutes left to overcome the remaining 19 points of their deficit.
The Blue Raiders finished the night with an impressive 51 rebounds, 19 of which came on the offensive end, and shot 42.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
"We were really good on the glass tonight, and Jayce especially was great in the first half," McDevitt said. "That's important for us to have guards who can really go rebound the ball and they did a good job of that tonight."
The Blue Raiders now return home from a long road trip across Texas to host the UTEP Miners Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for Senior Night.
Middle Tennessee will honor Hawthorne, Karl Gamble, Chase Miller and Lawrence Mosley prior to tip-off of their final game on the Murphy Center floor.
Green poured in 26 thanks to five 3-pointers to collect his 16th 20-point game of the season while Hawthorne came up just shy of his career high with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and hit 3-of-4 trifectas on the night while pulling down eight rebounds.
Reggie Scurry added 15 points of his own to go along with seven rebounds while freshman Jayce Johnson was a monster on the glass with a career-high 13 boards.
The Blue Raiders were able to correct the early issues faced just three days ago at Rice, getting off to an 8-0 start inside the Don Haskins Center after a pair of triples by Green opened the scoring.
The two 3-pointers gave Green 100 on the season, making him just the 15th player in Conference USA men's basketball history to reach the milestone in a single season.
Middle Tennessee continued to assert its dominance throughout the first half, opening up a 14-point lead after Hawthorne knocked in a pair of 3-pointers from right in front of the UTEP bench.
When the first half was all said and done, MT carried a 19-point advantage into the locker room with the scoreboard reading 38-19.
The Raiders collected an incredible 31 rebounds before the break, 12 of which were on the offensive glass and 10 of which were collected by Jayce Johnson to match his career high.
While the UTEP defense appeared to have clamped down to start the second half, holding MT scoreless for the first four minutes following the break, the Blue Raiders quickly got back into a rhythm and opened up a 20-point lead with 15:54 remaining in the game.
"I thought our guys were just locked in tonight to make the right plays," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "When you're up 19 you've got to keep doing the things that got you that 19-point lead, and tonight we did a good job of that."
The scoring continued to pick up from that point on as Green and Hawthorne kept pouring it in from downtown. Back-to-back triples from the two as the game clock rolled under six minutes had the Blue Raiders on top 63-35.
After a Scurry's 47th dunk of the season less than a minute later, UTEP finally showed a little life as they opened up a 9-0 run to get back within 20, but it would be too little too late for the Miners with just two minutes left to overcome the remaining 19 points of their deficit.
The Blue Raiders finished the night with an impressive 51 rebounds, 19 of which came on the offensive end, and shot 42.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
"We were really good on the glass tonight, and Jayce especially was great in the first half," McDevitt said. "That's important for us to have guards who can really go rebound the ball and they did a good job of that tonight."
The Blue Raiders now return home from a long road trip across Texas to host the UTEP Miners Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for Senior Night.
Middle Tennessee will honor Hawthorne, Karl Gamble, Chase Miller and Lawrence Mosley prior to tip-off of their final game on the Murphy Center floor.
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
