Raiders battle on the road, but fall to high-scoring Herd

Saturday, February 13

Huntington, WV

3:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

-513, 311 CUSA

Marshall

-125, 64 CUSA

Middle Tennessee

Marshall

2/13/2021 5:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: @MTAthletics

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Middle Tennessee battled to the very end Saturday afternoon in Huntington, showing its resilience after a tough showing against Marshall the night before, but fell in the end by a final score of 96-85.

Junior guard Jalen Jordan was unstoppable for the Blue Raiders (5-13, 3-9), topping his season high of 22 points set less than 24 hours before with 25 points on 9 of 11 shooting with a blemish-free 7 for 7 mark from beyond the arc.

Jarrod West and Taevion Kinsey combined for 54 points for The Herd (12-5, 6-4), who finished the contest shooting a highly efficient 61 percent (37 of 61) from the field.

"I really liked how we were battling out there over the course of the game," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "You're kind of fighting a sixth opponent against Marshall in the system that they run, where they spread you out and create quick and easy baskets at a high level of efficiency."

The Blue Raiders started strong for the second consecutive day, opening up a 19-10 lead just seven minutes in with a clear emphasis on getting the ball into the paint with starting posts DeAndre Dishman and Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss posting 11 of the first 19 points.

The Herd quickly answered just as they did in game one with a 9-0 run knotting the score at 19 apiece before MT regained the lead with a free throw and then a triple.

Having seen 40 minutes of Marshall's furious pace the night before, the Raiders seemed far more ready for it to start Saturday's contest.

Middle Tennessee wouldn't allow Marshall to hold more than a 1-point lead until the final two minutes of the first half. The Herd used a second 9-0 run to take a 42-37 but the Blue Raiders answered to go into the half trailing by only one at 45-44.

The opening frame was the Jalen Jordan show for Middle Tennessee just as it was on Friday, with the junior pouring in 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting with a 4 for 4 mark from beyond the arc to lead all scorers at the break.

Middle Tennessee started the second half just as it did the first, going straight to Dishman in the paint to re-claim the lead.

That's when Marshall started to assert itself once again, using an 11-2 run capped by a monstrous alley-oop to go up by eight points.

Jordan then drilled in quick succession his fifth and sixth trifectas in six tries on the evening in an attempt to rally his team back, but Marshall showed no signs of slowing up on offense.

Junior guard Jordan Davis got MT back within four at 63-59 with a triple assisted by Jordan and the Blue Raiders continued to battle at the all-out tempo set by Marshall, but as the clock ticked towards nine minutes The Herd clawed its way to a 10-point advantage on their home court.

After Marshall opened its advantage up to 13, Middle Tennessee did everything it could to keep The Herd within reach. The Raiders closed the gap to seven on more than one occasion, but couldn't get the game back within a possession with a chance to deliver a lead-changing blow in the final minutes.

"I thought our guys did a really nice job keeping pressure on them and forcing them to make plays, but tonight they were able to make the timely play when they needed them," McDevitt added. "You have to give credit to (Jarrod) West and (Taevion) Kinsey, who I think were huge with the plays they made in the last few minutes to close it out."

Davis and Dishman pitched in with 17 points apiece, the latter setting a new season high, while Millner-Criss added 16. Dishman's game-high 10 rebounds also landed the junior from Lexington his first double-double of the season and third of his career.

The Blue Raiders shot 50 percent (33 of 66) from the field on Saturday and hit 50 percent (12 of 24) of their 3-point attempts as well.

Middle Tennessee returns home to host LA Tech in its final homestand of the season next Friday and Saturday. Murphy Center doors will be open to season ticket holders and students at 10 percent capacity.