Blue Raiders back in Murfreesboro against WKU

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — After last weekend's road swing at Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee returned to Murfreesboro and prepared for two games against Conference USA rival Western Kentucky.

Due to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, fans will not be allowed entry to watch this weekend's games in Murphy Center.

However, Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+, and Sunday's game will be nationally broadcast on CBSSN. Also, fans are encouraged to tune into the radio broadcasts of both games by Chip Walters and Kyle Turnham on the following stations: WGNS 1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM; The Game 2 94.9 FM/95.1 FM.

Game 11: Middle Tennessee (3-7, 1-3 C-USA) vs. Western Kentucky (11-4, 4-2 C-USA)
» Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 – 4 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center – Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Game 12: Middle Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky
» Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 – 1 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center – Murfreesboro, Tenn.

About the Blue Raiders
» MT dropped both games at Southern Miss but has the opportunity to jump up in the C-USA East standings with victories this weekend.
» Three Blue Raiders have started all 10 games of the 2020-21 season: Jordan Davis, DeAndre Dishman and Jalen Jordan.
» Dontrell Shuler made his first start of the season against Ole Miss and leads all Blue Raiders with 11.7 points and 2.0 assists per game.
» Davis comes in second for MT with 10.7 points per game to go with 4.1 rebounds and a team-leading 2.2 steals per contest.
» Forward Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss has 8.0 points per game on 42.0% shooting along with a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game.
» Nick McDevitt's team has seen a great defensive improvement so far this season, as the Blue Raiders are first in Conference USA and seventh nationally in three-point field goal defense (26.5%). MT is also third in C-USA in turnovers forced per game (16.5).
» The rebounding margin is razor thin in 2020-21, as both the Blue Raiders and their opponents average 36.6 rebounds per game.

All-Time vs. Western Kentucky
» This weekend's meetings will be No. 139 and 140 for MT and WKU, making it the third most-played rivalry in Blue Raider basketball history.
» WKU owns a 95-43 advantage in the all-time series, but MT is 19-12 against the Hilltoppers in games played at Murphy Center.
» Last season, Western Kentucky won by a score of 69-53 in Murfreesboro.

Scouting the Hilltoppers
» WKU split C-USA series with Charlotte and Louisiana Tech before winning both games in a home-and-home against Marshall last week.
» 6-foot-11 junior center Charles Bassey has claimed five C-USA Player of the Week awards and is the reigning Lute Olson National Player of the Week. Bassey averages 17.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.
» Senior guards Taveion Hollingsworth (13.9 points per game) and Josh Anderson (10.5 points per game) are the other main scoring threats for the Hilltoppers.
» As a team, WKU is first in the league in free throw percentage, total blocks and total rebounds.
» However, the Hilltoppers turn the ball over more than any team in C-USA (216) and have the worst three-point field goal defense (37.3%) than any other team in the league.

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

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Davis

DeAndre Dishman

Jalen Jordan

Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss

Dontrell Shuler

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics