Comeback efforts fall short for men's hoops in Norfolk

Friday, February 26

Norfolk, VA

6:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

5-14, 3-10

Old Dominion

13-6, 9-4

Middle Tennessee

Old Dominion

2/26/2021 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Early turnovers thwart Raiders on the road

By: @MTAthletics

NORFOLK, Va. – Middle Tennessee mounted a valiant comeback effort Friday night in Norfolk, but early turnovers leading to points on the other end would prove to be the deciding factor as Old Dominion escaped with a 67-61 win in game one of the series.

MT (5-14, 3-10) gave the ball away 16 times in the game, leading to 19 points off turnovers for ODU (13-6, 9-4) as the home squad built a 20-point lead midway through the second half before the Blue Raiders started their comeback.

"We just turned the ball over too much in the first half … and all of a sudden we are down 14 at half time," Head Coach Nick McDevitt stated. "Too many of those were live ball turnovers leading to easy baskets on the other end, and any time you find yourself down 20 with 13 minutes to go against a good team, you make it hard on yourself."

When the Raiders managed to take care of the ball, they produced efficient offense and converted on 45.3 percent (24 of 53) of their field goal attempts and 47.6 percent (10 of 21) of their 3-pointers.

"When we were playing as well as I know we can, we looked really good in some stretches," McDevitt added. "Once we settled down and got in a better rhythm we were able to battle and make it a game."

After the Monarchs took an early 4-0 lead, the Blue Raiders answered with a 9-0 run that included a Jalen Jordan trifecta as the redshirt junior picked up where he left off at Marshall where he hit 12 of 15 3-pointers across two games.

ODU responded quickly on their home floor, and after a triple by Donovan Sims in his first game back from a torn meniscus tied the game at 12 the Monarch defense began to clamp down on the Raider offense.

Turnovers on three consecutive MT possessions sparked a big ODU run that led the home squad to a 26-14 advantage as the teams went to the bench for the final media timeout of the first half.

All in all, the Blue Raiders would go seven minutes and ten seconds without a point before ending the scoring drought with a dunk by Jared Coleman-Jones.

Middle Tennessee would finish the first half with a staggering 10 turnovers, surrendering 15 points off those turnovers to account for more than their 14-point deficit.

Trailing 32-18 coming out of the break, MT came out shooting as each of its four attempts – three of which were from downtown – found the bottom of the net.

If the Raiders wanted to challenge for the lead, however, the defense would need an uptick to match that of the offense as the visitors remained 14 down as the game clock ticked under 16 minutes in Norfolk.

It was on the other side of that breather that the ball-handling woes picked back up for MT.

Middle Tennessee fell down by as many as 20 before beginning to turn things around with a 9-0 run capped by an old fashioned 3-point play by Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss.

Millner-Criss wasn't done there, as he converted a 4-point play just minutes later to carry his team back within single digits for the first time in 14 minutes of action.

His third 3-pointer of the half closed the gap to seven points and gave the redshirt senior a game-high 17 points on the night as he came up three rebounds shy of a double-double.

Eli Lawrence made it all the more interesting with a corner triple making the score 65-61 with 23 seconds remaining, but Old Dominion stretched the lead back to six at the free throw line and closed the game out with a defensive stand to thwart the comeback effort and protect their home floor in game one.

MT and ODU are back at it again tomorrow, as the Blue Raiders look to clean up some mistakes and split the series with the Monarchs.

"I really liked our fight tonight and what we did late in the game," McDevitt concluded. "We're going to look at the film tonight and pinpoint some areas where we can improve … and we'll have to do those things from the jump tomorrow."

Game two tips at 6:00 p.m. CT in Norfolk and will once again be broadcast on ESPN+.