Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, January 16
Boca Raton, FL
6:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-414, 05 CUSA
94
at
97
Florida Atlantic
-126, 41 CUSA
1
2
OT 1
F
Middle Tennessee
35
50
9
94
Florida Atlantic
37
48
12
97
Team Stats
MT
FAU
FG%
.458
.514
3FG%
.560
.379
FT%
.737
.636
RB
42
40
TO
14
9
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
8
FTM
0
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Owls steal one in overtime, 97-94
1/16/2020 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Middle Tennessee's offense awoke from a long slumber Thursday evening in Boca Raton with 85 points in regulation, but Florida Atlantic finished the Blue Raiders off in overtime at RoofClaim.com Arena, 97-94, to remain in second place in Conference USA.
Three Blue Raiders logged 20-plus points on the night, led by Donovan Sims' 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting from beyond the arc.
"We've been through a lot of adversity this season with injuries and tough losses, and after a meeting earlier this week I feel like we turned a corner with our play today," Sims said after the overtime loss.
"As for my shooting tonight, I just knew it felt good coming out of my hand in shootaround so once a couple went down in the game I just kept shooting it with confidence."
Jayce Johnson added a career-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds while Antonio Green looks to have worked his way out of a rough patch with 21 points and six rebounds in the contest.
"This one really hurts," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "Our team needs a win, and I wish I could help them more than I did. I'm really proud of our team, they played hard on the road against a team that is now 4-1 in the league and they deserved to win tonight."
Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 4-0 lead but saw it quickly erased by back-to-back 3-pointers from Owls' leading scorer Cornelius Taylor.
The Blue Raiders looked like a team dead set on battling FAU from the jump, though, hanging tough with the Owls as an Antonio Green 3-pointer leading into the final media timeout of the first half pulled MT within two at 30-28.
Determined to turn their fortunes and get back in the win column, a Donovan Sims triple just before the buzzer kept the deficit at two heading into the locker room.
Trailing 37-35 with 20 minutes to go, the Blue Raiders struggled the first couple of trips down the floor before Jayce Johnson added to his 11 first half points with a nice post move for two.
Sims then went back to work with two more makes from downtown, but both were answered immediately by the Owls to make the score 46-43.
Shortly after a two-point response from FAU extended their lead back out to five, Green went on a 5-0 run by himself to deadlock the score at 48 apiece.
While the Owls continued to punch, the Blue Raiders refused to stop counter-punching as a baseline slam by Reggie Scurry brought the score to 55-55 at the under-12 media timeout.
It took three trips back and forth before either team put the ball in the basket out of the media, but it was Green who snapped the short drought as his third triple of the gave MT its first lead since the score was 4-3.
With all the momentum swinging their way, the Blue Raiders used a 19-5 tear to take a 67-58 lead inside RoofClaim.com Arena with under nine minutes to go.
As the clock ticked near the 5-minute mark, Sims swiped the ball and took it down the floor for a layup by Green that made the lead 11, a lead the Raiders would take into the final media timeout.
"At that point in the game we were just trying to string together some stops," McDevitt added. "We were playing some zone because we had some guys in foul trouble and we were trying to protect those guys, but it also threw (FAU) off and allowed us to get some stops and stretch out our lead."
Florida Atlantic, energized by a raucous student section, still had one more run in them, however.
An 8-0 stretch over just 90 seconds saw the Owls make it a one possession once again, and after Sims' eighth triple of the night momentarily quieted the crowd the Owls got them right back on their feet with a 5-0 stretch cutting the lead to just one at 83-82.
After a layup attempt by Green just fell off the edge of the rim, FAU drew a foul and went to the line with 29 seconds on the game clock and a chance to re-claim the lead.
An empty trip to the charity stripe put the game back in MT's hands, but a missed front end of one and one chance put the ball back in the Owls' court.
The Owls ran a play that resulted in a wide open corner three, but it trickled off the rim into Jo'Vontae Millner's hands who was immediately fouled.
Millner was perfect at the line, extending the lead back to three before Florida Atlantic got the ball across half court and called a timeout to setup the final shot with 2.7 seconds on the clock.
Second year head coach Dusty May's play worked to perfection, giving Jailyn Ingram a look from the corner in front of their bench that touched nothing but net to send the contest to overtime knotted up at 85.
In their first overtime game of the season, a 6-0 Blue Raider run early in the extra period put the road squad back up by five, 93-88, with 2:19 remaining.
The Owls quickly recovered with a 7-1 run, one that put them up by one and forced McDevitt to use his final timeout with 30 seconds on the clock.
FAU would go just 2 for 4 from the free throw line in the final minute, leaving the door open for the Blue Raiders to steal the game back, but a pair of missed shots from inside the arc and a last second 3-pointer that came up short allowed the home team to escape in overtime.
"We all came together right from the jump tonight and showed we were ready to battle," Sims said. "We played really hard for 45 minutes tonight and we feel like we deserved a win, so we're disappointed not to be leaving here with it."
Middle Tennessee has another tough road test coming with a short turnaround to prepare for it as they face the FIU Panthers Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Three Blue Raiders logged 20-plus points on the night, led by Donovan Sims' 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting from beyond the arc.
"We've been through a lot of adversity this season with injuries and tough losses, and after a meeting earlier this week I feel like we turned a corner with our play today," Sims said after the overtime loss.
"As for my shooting tonight, I just knew it felt good coming out of my hand in shootaround so once a couple went down in the game I just kept shooting it with confidence."
Jayce Johnson added a career-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds while Antonio Green looks to have worked his way out of a rough patch with 21 points and six rebounds in the contest.
"This one really hurts," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "Our team needs a win, and I wish I could help them more than I did. I'm really proud of our team, they played hard on the road against a team that is now 4-1 in the league and they deserved to win tonight."
Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 4-0 lead but saw it quickly erased by back-to-back 3-pointers from Owls' leading scorer Cornelius Taylor.
The Blue Raiders looked like a team dead set on battling FAU from the jump, though, hanging tough with the Owls as an Antonio Green 3-pointer leading into the final media timeout of the first half pulled MT within two at 30-28.
Determined to turn their fortunes and get back in the win column, a Donovan Sims triple just before the buzzer kept the deficit at two heading into the locker room.
Trailing 37-35 with 20 minutes to go, the Blue Raiders struggled the first couple of trips down the floor before Jayce Johnson added to his 11 first half points with a nice post move for two.
Sims then went back to work with two more makes from downtown, but both were answered immediately by the Owls to make the score 46-43.
Shortly after a two-point response from FAU extended their lead back out to five, Green went on a 5-0 run by himself to deadlock the score at 48 apiece.
While the Owls continued to punch, the Blue Raiders refused to stop counter-punching as a baseline slam by Reggie Scurry brought the score to 55-55 at the under-12 media timeout.
It took three trips back and forth before either team put the ball in the basket out of the media, but it was Green who snapped the short drought as his third triple of the gave MT its first lead since the score was 4-3.
With all the momentum swinging their way, the Blue Raiders used a 19-5 tear to take a 67-58 lead inside RoofClaim.com Arena with under nine minutes to go.
As the clock ticked near the 5-minute mark, Sims swiped the ball and took it down the floor for a layup by Green that made the lead 11, a lead the Raiders would take into the final media timeout.
"At that point in the game we were just trying to string together some stops," McDevitt added. "We were playing some zone because we had some guys in foul trouble and we were trying to protect those guys, but it also threw (FAU) off and allowed us to get some stops and stretch out our lead."
Florida Atlantic, energized by a raucous student section, still had one more run in them, however.
An 8-0 stretch over just 90 seconds saw the Owls make it a one possession once again, and after Sims' eighth triple of the night momentarily quieted the crowd the Owls got them right back on their feet with a 5-0 stretch cutting the lead to just one at 83-82.
After a layup attempt by Green just fell off the edge of the rim, FAU drew a foul and went to the line with 29 seconds on the game clock and a chance to re-claim the lead.
An empty trip to the charity stripe put the game back in MT's hands, but a missed front end of one and one chance put the ball back in the Owls' court.
The Owls ran a play that resulted in a wide open corner three, but it trickled off the rim into Jo'Vontae Millner's hands who was immediately fouled.
Millner was perfect at the line, extending the lead back to three before Florida Atlantic got the ball across half court and called a timeout to setup the final shot with 2.7 seconds on the clock.
Second year head coach Dusty May's play worked to perfection, giving Jailyn Ingram a look from the corner in front of their bench that touched nothing but net to send the contest to overtime knotted up at 85.
In their first overtime game of the season, a 6-0 Blue Raider run early in the extra period put the road squad back up by five, 93-88, with 2:19 remaining.
The Owls quickly recovered with a 7-1 run, one that put them up by one and forced McDevitt to use his final timeout with 30 seconds on the clock.
FAU would go just 2 for 4 from the free throw line in the final minute, leaving the door open for the Blue Raiders to steal the game back, but a pair of missed shots from inside the arc and a last second 3-pointer that came up short allowed the home team to escape in overtime.
"We all came together right from the jump tonight and showed we were ready to battle," Sims said. "We played really hard for 45 minutes tonight and we feel like we deserved a win, so we're disappointed not to be leaving here with it."
Middle Tennessee has another tough road test coming with a short turnaround to prepare for it as they face the FIU Panthers Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
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
