Blue Raiders fall to rival WKU

Saturday, January 23

Murfreesboro, TN

4:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

-38,14 CUSA

WKU

-124,52 CUSA

Western Ky.

Middle Tennessee

1/23/2021 6:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Josh Vardaman

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — After fighting to keep things close in the first half, Middle Tennessee couldn't keep up with rival WKU after the break Saturday.

The Hilltoppers (12-4, 5-2) were the preseason favorite in Conference USA with 11 first-place votes, and they showed why in the second half against the Blue Raiders (3-8, 1-4). They outscored MT 44-37 on its home floor in the last 20 minutes, leading to an 82-67 win.

"I was proud of our team's resiliency and their effort throughout the course of the game," Blue Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt said. "We got thrown some curveballs as a group over the last 24 hours, but I thought we went out and battled a very good WKU team."

Middle Tennessee did a fantastic job of sticking with its rival in the first half, heading to the break within striking distance down 38-30. That was quite the feat for the Blue Raiders considering their recent off-court challenges.

Thursday's practice was the first time MT had its full complement of 14 players present and participating in 41 days because of COVID-19 positive tests and contact tracing among other injuries and illnesses.

"I think that shows a little bit of the resiliency of our players," McDevitt said. "We've been without some of our players for weeks now … and it's really been a next-man-up attitude."

The Blue Raiders, maybe somewhat surprisingly, didn't appear too rusty in the first half.

Despite racking up nine fouls against just five for WKU, leading to a 12-1 discrepancy in made free throws, a fantastic defensive performance and hot shooting from a first-time starter kept MT in it.

The Blue Raiders limited the Hilltoppers to 41.7% shooting and forced nine turnovers, leading to nine points on the other end, while sophomore Eli Lawrence stepped into the starting five for the first time and responded with 10 first-half points.

Lawrence saw his role expand when senior guard Donovan Sims was injured in practice Friday and Jalen Jordan left the game Saturday a minute in with a hand injury.

"I knew I was going to have to step up big without those guys," Lawrence said. "I tried to keep the same mindset to go hard and lock in defensively, then let the rest handle itself."

Middle Tennessee's good start ended a few minutes into the second half, as WKU turned a six-point lead into 19 with a 13-0 run.

The Blue Raiders tried to get back on their feet behind a good second half from junior Dontrell Shuler, who scored 13 of his team-high 18 points after halftime, but the deficit was too great to overcome.

Shuler hit 5-of-10 shots and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in his first game since Dec. 16 against Ole Miss. He's the team's leading scorer, going into the night averaging 11.7 points per game.

"I did a good job in practice and keeping my mind focused on the game and not worrying about our circumstances," Shuler said. "I just trusted God that he would lift me up."

Lawrence finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. He also led the team with six rebounds and had a pair of steals.

Jordan Davis added 12 points for the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee and WKU will continue the rivalry weekend Sunday at the Murphy Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

"I thought overall we did a good job, especially defensively," McDevitt said. "We have to avoid some early fouls tomorrow."