Crucial road swing ahead for Blue Raiders

Thursday, January 30

El Paso, TX

8:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

UTEP

Tickets

MTSU vs Southern Miss, Murfreesboro, TN, Jan. 25, 2020

Photo by: Stephanie Van Horn / MT Athletics Communications

Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications

Photo by: Stephanie Van Horn / MT Athletics Communications

Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications

Photo by: Stephanie Van Horn / MT Athletics Communications

Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications

Photo by: Stephanie Van Horn / MT Athletics Communications

Photo by: Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications

Photo by: Stephanie Van Horn / MT Athletics Communications

1/29/2020 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee men's basketball will reach the halfway point of the Conference USA slate when it travels to the Lone Star State this week, and each game starts to become more important.

Game 22: Middle Tennessee (5-16, 1-7 C-USA) at UTEP (12-9, 3-5 C-USA)
» Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 – 8:00 p.m. CST
» Don Haskins Center (11,892) – El Paso, Texas

Game 23: Middle Tennessee at UTSA (10-11, 4-4 C-USA)
» Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 – 3:00 p.m. CST
» Convocation Center (4,080) – San Antonio, Texas

About the Blue Raiders
» Middle Tennessee's losing streak ended at 11 games on Saturday night, as the Blue Raiders defeated Southern Miss.
» MT is worst in C-USA in first half point differential (-182). However, the Blue Raiders are second in points scored (847) and point differential (+85) in the second half.
» C.J. Jones and Donovan Sims have started all 21 games of the 2019-20 season.
» Jones is fourth in C-USA in points per game (16.4) and total field goals made (128).
» MT's best C-USA team stat is blocks, as the team is fourth with 72 on the year.
» Antonio Green has continued to shoot from beyond the arc, as he is third in C-USA in 3-point field goals attempted (152).
» Senior forward Reggie Scurry leads his team in rebounds (5.4 per game) and field goal percentage (60.4%).

All-Time vs. UTEP
» Thursday's game at UTEP will be the 11th meeting between the two programs.
» MT holds an overall series lead of 7-3 after three wins over the Miners last season.

Scouting the Miners
» Like the Blue Raiders, UTEP has lost to FIU, Florida Atlantic and Louisiana Tech but defeated Southern Miss.
» UTEP is second in C-USA in two team categories: free throw percentage (77.0%) and 3-point field goal defense (29.7%).
» 6-foot-8 Bryson Williams is largely considered one of C-USA's best big men. The junior leads the Miners with 18.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game to with 20 blocks this season.
» Guard Souley Boum is C-USA's best free throw shooter (90.6%) and averages 12.6 points per game for the Miners.
» Daryl Edwards rounds out the list of top UTEP players. The 6-foot-3 graduate student averages 10.1 points per game.

All-Time vs. UTSA
» Saturday's game at UTSA will be the eighth meeting between the two programs.
» MT has a 6-1 lead in the series, including a win over the then-first place Roadrunners at Murphy Center last season.

Scouting the Roadrunners
» UTSA also lost to both Florida Atlantic and FIU on the road but boasts a win over Louisiana Tech.
» The Roadrunners are a great rebounding team and are second in C-USA in scoring offense, but they are worst in the league in scoring defense and personal fouls.
» UTSA's offense runs through 6-foot guard Jhivvan Jackson, who was one of two Roadrunners on the C-USA Preseason Team.
» Jackson is tops in the nation in total points and second in points per game (26.3). He's also second in the country in 3-point field goal attempts (222) and has made the most free throws in the conference (104).
» Keaton Wallace, the other C-USA Preseason Team member from UTSA, follows closely behind Jackson in most offensive categories. Wallace averages 18 points per game and has made 53 3-pointers of his own.
» In the paint, 6-foot-6 forward Byron Frohnen has started all 21 games and leads the Roadrunners in rebounds with 7.1 per game.

Last Time Out
» Against Louisiana Tech last Thursday, MT cut a 23-point deficit down to three points, but the Bulldogs came away with the 80-73 win.
» On Saturday night, Donovan Sims made the game-winning free throws with 1.5 seconds left to close out a 65-63 win over Southern Miss.
» C.J. Jones scored 16 points against Louisiana Tech and 17 points against Southern Miss to extend his consecutive double-digit scoring games streak to seven.

Next Time Out
» MT will be back at Murphy Center for a pair of games next week.
» The Blue Raiders will first host North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
» Then, MT will hit the floor once again to take on Rice on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. on CUSA.tv.

For all the latest information on Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball, follow the #BlueRaiders on Facebook (@MTMensBasketball), Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (MT_MBB).