Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Wednesday, February 12
Birmingham, AL
7:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-620, 211 CUSA
72
at
83
UAB
-1511, 67 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
38
34
72
UAB
36
47
83
Team Stats
MT
UAB
FG%
.484
.587
3FG%
.321
.600
FT%
.375
.742
RB
21
37
TO
12
16
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
10
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Raiders can't contain Blazers in Bartow
2/12/2020 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Middle Tennessee brought the fight to UAB early on in a Wednesday evening showdown at Bartow Arena, but were outlasted in the end as the Blazers cruised in the second half to capture an 83-72 victory.
The Blue Raiders were in desperate need of a win coming into Birmingham, and the Blazers were reeling with a four-game home losing streak on their shoulders.
Antonio Green threw his name in the hat as the night's here early and often, pouring in 16 points and four threes before halftime and finishing with 26 points and four steals.
The Middle Tennessee offense blitzed UAB early, jumping out to an 8-0 lead less than 90 seconds in after a three by Jo'Vontae Millner opened the scoring on the game's first possession.
The Blue Raiders were perhaps better on the defensive end to start, however, holding the Blazers without a field goal for three and a half minutes to open the contest.
MT took a commanding 18-6 lead with a Green triple coming out of the night's first media timeout, but the Blazer offense had begun to settle in and forced McDevitt to call a timeout after a 6-0 run by UAB cut its deficit in half.
"We had a lot of energy to start the game tonight and we were really executing well in the beginning, but we had a couple of silly turnovers that let (UAB) dig out of the double-digit hole we put them in early," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said.
Jayce Johnson stopped the bleeding as a putback after his team-leading 50th offensive rebound of the season made the score 20-12. Another Green trifecta, his third in just six minutes on the floor, sent the rival squads into the second media timeout with MT on top by nine.
The Raiders retained at least a two-possession lead up until a triple by true freshman Jalen Benjamin, UAB's leading scorer, with 6:32 on brought the score to 23-21.
Green answered right back with a 3-pointer on the next trip down the court but the Blazers fought back with a pair of buckets the got them back within one.
With C.J. Jones unable to go in front of his hometown crowd due to injury, Calera, Ala., native Tyler Millin stepped up in a big way with a chance to impress some local fans.
The true freshman knocked down a triple from the top of the key and followed it with a swift move in the post to extend his team's lead back to two possessions.
The teams went on to trade blows as the first half came to a close, but the Blue Raiders held their lead wire-to-wire before the break and entered the locker room ahead 38-36 on the road.
Reggie Scurry got the Blue Raiders going on the first possession of the second half, slamming home and alley-oop thrown into the lane by Johnson, but a 5-point spurt by UAB gave the home squad their first lead of the night less than two minutes later.
The Blazers carried that momentum to turn the 5-point spurt into a 10-0 run before Donovan Sims scored five straight to cut the 6-point deficit back to one.
With the script flipped from the first half story the Blue Raiders fought to stay within two possessions of the Blazers, but another run of 12-0 run ended that hope as UAB took a 67-52 lead with eight and a half minutes remaining in Birmingham.
"We began to give up some easy looks the deeper into the game we got, and they have some talented guys that can get to the hoop," McDevitt added. "When you give up that many easy looks it's almost always going to come back to haunt you."
The Raiders kept themselves in the game down the stretch, scratching and clawing to stop the Blazers from opening their lead to any more than 15, but couldn't get enough stops to make it a single-digit contest until the clock had ticked down to 1:37.
In an effort to extend the game, MT began to foul their opponents to send them to the free throw line, but UAB converted in the clutch moments to close out the night with a win.
Tyson Jackson pitched in 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting on the evening while Scurry collected nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sims matched Scurry with nine points while Millin collected seven on 3 of 4 shooting in front of a host of hometown fans.
Middle Tennessee looks to flip the result on Saturday, when the Blazers come to Murfreesboro for the second leg of the annual home-and-home series.
The Blue Raiders were in desperate need of a win coming into Birmingham, and the Blazers were reeling with a four-game home losing streak on their shoulders.
Antonio Green threw his name in the hat as the night's here early and often, pouring in 16 points and four threes before halftime and finishing with 26 points and four steals.
The Middle Tennessee offense blitzed UAB early, jumping out to an 8-0 lead less than 90 seconds in after a three by Jo'Vontae Millner opened the scoring on the game's first possession.
The Blue Raiders were perhaps better on the defensive end to start, however, holding the Blazers without a field goal for three and a half minutes to open the contest.
MT took a commanding 18-6 lead with a Green triple coming out of the night's first media timeout, but the Blazer offense had begun to settle in and forced McDevitt to call a timeout after a 6-0 run by UAB cut its deficit in half.
"We had a lot of energy to start the game tonight and we were really executing well in the beginning, but we had a couple of silly turnovers that let (UAB) dig out of the double-digit hole we put them in early," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said.
Jayce Johnson stopped the bleeding as a putback after his team-leading 50th offensive rebound of the season made the score 20-12. Another Green trifecta, his third in just six minutes on the floor, sent the rival squads into the second media timeout with MT on top by nine.
The Raiders retained at least a two-possession lead up until a triple by true freshman Jalen Benjamin, UAB's leading scorer, with 6:32 on brought the score to 23-21.
Green answered right back with a 3-pointer on the next trip down the court but the Blazers fought back with a pair of buckets the got them back within one.
With C.J. Jones unable to go in front of his hometown crowd due to injury, Calera, Ala., native Tyler Millin stepped up in a big way with a chance to impress some local fans.
The true freshman knocked down a triple from the top of the key and followed it with a swift move in the post to extend his team's lead back to two possessions.
The teams went on to trade blows as the first half came to a close, but the Blue Raiders held their lead wire-to-wire before the break and entered the locker room ahead 38-36 on the road.
Reggie Scurry got the Blue Raiders going on the first possession of the second half, slamming home and alley-oop thrown into the lane by Johnson, but a 5-point spurt by UAB gave the home squad their first lead of the night less than two minutes later.
The Blazers carried that momentum to turn the 5-point spurt into a 10-0 run before Donovan Sims scored five straight to cut the 6-point deficit back to one.
With the script flipped from the first half story the Blue Raiders fought to stay within two possessions of the Blazers, but another run of 12-0 run ended that hope as UAB took a 67-52 lead with eight and a half minutes remaining in Birmingham.
"We began to give up some easy looks the deeper into the game we got, and they have some talented guys that can get to the hoop," McDevitt added. "When you give up that many easy looks it's almost always going to come back to haunt you."
The Raiders kept themselves in the game down the stretch, scratching and clawing to stop the Blazers from opening their lead to any more than 15, but couldn't get enough stops to make it a single-digit contest until the clock had ticked down to 1:37.
In an effort to extend the game, MT began to foul their opponents to send them to the free throw line, but UAB converted in the clutch moments to close out the night with a win.
Tyson Jackson pitched in 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting on the evening while Scurry collected nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sims matched Scurry with nine points while Millin collected seven on 3 of 4 shooting in front of a host of hometown fans.
Middle Tennessee looks to flip the result on Saturday, when the Blazers come to Murfreesboro for the second leg of the annual home-and-home series.
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
