Blue Raiders Riding High to Chattanooga

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee men's basketball (9-3) is set to make the 81-mile trek down I-24 in preparation for a matchup with Chattanooga (9-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 6:00 p.m. CT at McKenzie Arena. The Blue Raiders close out the nonconference portion of their schedule Wednesday and come into Chattanooga winners of two of their last three games.

Wednesday night's game can be viewed on ESPN+. Fans can tune into the radio broadcast WGNS 1450AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM; The Game 2 94.9 FM/95.1 FM with Chip Walters and Kyle Turnham on the call. Tickets are available the Mocs' website.

Five Blue Raiders scored in double digits in Sunday's 84-80 victory over Coastal Carolina. Graduate student Josh Jefferson led MT in scoring with 17 points and four rebounds. Freshman Justin Bufford added a career-high 12 points, going 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the second half to help ice the game down the stretch.

Camryn Weston (12), Donovan Sims (11), and Eli Lawrence (10) joined Jefferson and Bufford in double figures. Middle Tennessee got a boost from its bench, as Blue Raider reserves scored 26 points and all five players who came off the bench finished with a positive +/- rating.

Game 13: Middle Tennessee (9-3, 0-0 C-USA) vs. Chattanooga (9-3, 0-0 Southern)
» Wednesday, December 22, 2021
» 6 p.m. CT
» McKenzie Arena
» Chattanooga, Tenn.

All-Time vs. Chattanooga
» Wednesday's game is the 67th meeting between the two programs, with Chattanooga leading 34-32 all-time. MT has won six of the last eight meetings and is making its first visit to Chattanooga since November 24, 1997.

Blue Raiders Notes
» Donovan Sims is making his way up the all-time lists at Middle Tennessee. The Murfreesboro native is two 3-pointers away from eighth-most in program history and three steals and eight assists from ninth in those categories. He is also 66 minutes, four games played, and two games started to crack the top-10 in those areas.
» The Blue Raiders are third in Conference USA in scoring margin (+12.00) and turnover margin (+3.25).
» Josh Jefferson leads the Blue Raiders in scoring (12.1 ppg) after Sunday's performance.
» Sophomore Eli Lawrence is the leading rebounder for MT, bringing down 4.8 rebounds per game.
» Eight Blue Raiders average at least 6.0 points per game, the most of any Conference USA team.

Scouting the Mocs
» Sophomore guard Malachi Smith is leading Chattanooga in scoring (20.3 ppg) and assists (3.6 apg).
» 6'9" Kansas transfer Silvio De Sousa leads the Mocs in rebounding, averaging 6.6 per game to go along with 13.0 ppg.
» Lamont Paris is in his fifth season at the helm of the Mocs. In those five seasons he has compiled a record of 69-67.
» David Jean-Baptiste, averaging 13.8 points per game, is third in the Southern Conference in 3-point field goals made (27) and attempted (91) and seventh in 3-point percentage (.407).
» The Mocs have dropped two straight games on the road to Belmont and Murray State after starting the season 9-1.

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Players Mentioned

Justin Bufford

Josh Jefferson

Eli Lawrence

Donovan Sims

Camryn Weston

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics