Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Thursday, March 4
Boca Raton, FL
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-516,312 CUSA
50
at
80
Florida Atlantic
-119,65 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
24
26
50
Fla. Atlantic
37
43
80
Blue Raiders go cold at FAU
3/4/2021 7:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Offensive woes were very much at the forefront for Middle Tennessee Thursday evening at FAU Arena as Florida Atlantic protected its home floor in convincing fashion with an 80-50 win.
The Blue Raiders (5-16, 3-12) shot just 29.3 percent (17 of 58) from the field while making just 4 of 22 3-pointers (18.2 percent) and handing out 17 turnovers.
"We forced ourselves early to have to play catch up all night, but never were able to catch up," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "We got outrebounded and couldn't make shots and that's an obvious recipe for poor results."
Middle Tennessee struggled to get off the blocks after making the long trip down to Boca Raton Wednesday afternoon, with Tyson Jackson coming in off the bench to get the Blue Raiders going just before the first media timeout with a tip-in.
The offense would remain slow for the Blue Raiders, and while both teams were fighting it from the 3-point line it was the Owls that were able to get to the rim and collect some easy points early in the evening.
FAU opened its first double-digit lead just eight minutes in and climbed up by 17 at 27-10 before MT's offense and defense began to click simultaneously for several possessions in a row.
A 9-0 run over two and a half minutes saw the Blue Raiders climb back within eight, however, the Owls responded with two quick baskets to take a 12-point lead into the final media break of the first half.
Tyler Millin got the bench on its feet with a monstrous dunk on Owl big man Karlis Silins at the 3-minute mark and Jalen Jordan finally knocked down the first MT triple of the game a minute later, but FAU squashed the Raider momentum with a late triple to head into the locker room with a 37-24 lead.
It was slow going on both ends of the floor to start the second half as the two teams combined for just nine points in the first four minutes of the second frame.
The Owls would begin to get rolling soon after, and by the under-12 media timeout had opened up their first 20-point lead of the contest at 52-32.
Head Coach Dusty May's FAU squad didn't look back from that point on, going up by as many as 34 points before closing out the game by the final margin of 30.
"We've got to guard our men better, be better on the ball screens and just don't turn it over tomorrow," McDevitt added. "It sounds so simple, but that's the bottom line if we want to be able to beat a good team like FAU on the road."
The Raiders and Owls get after it again on Friday in the regular season finale which tips at 5:00 p.m. CT.
The Blue Raiders (5-16, 3-12) shot just 29.3 percent (17 of 58) from the field while making just 4 of 22 3-pointers (18.2 percent) and handing out 17 turnovers.
"We forced ourselves early to have to play catch up all night, but never were able to catch up," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "We got outrebounded and couldn't make shots and that's an obvious recipe for poor results."
Middle Tennessee struggled to get off the blocks after making the long trip down to Boca Raton Wednesday afternoon, with Tyson Jackson coming in off the bench to get the Blue Raiders going just before the first media timeout with a tip-in.
The offense would remain slow for the Blue Raiders, and while both teams were fighting it from the 3-point line it was the Owls that were able to get to the rim and collect some easy points early in the evening.
FAU opened its first double-digit lead just eight minutes in and climbed up by 17 at 27-10 before MT's offense and defense began to click simultaneously for several possessions in a row.
A 9-0 run over two and a half minutes saw the Blue Raiders climb back within eight, however, the Owls responded with two quick baskets to take a 12-point lead into the final media break of the first half.
Tyler Millin got the bench on its feet with a monstrous dunk on Owl big man Karlis Silins at the 3-minute mark and Jalen Jordan finally knocked down the first MT triple of the game a minute later, but FAU squashed the Raider momentum with a late triple to head into the locker room with a 37-24 lead.
It was slow going on both ends of the floor to start the second half as the two teams combined for just nine points in the first four minutes of the second frame.
The Owls would begin to get rolling soon after, and by the under-12 media timeout had opened up their first 20-point lead of the contest at 52-32.
Head Coach Dusty May's FAU squad didn't look back from that point on, going up by as many as 34 points before closing out the game by the final margin of 30.
"We've got to guard our men better, be better on the ball screens and just don't turn it over tomorrow," McDevitt added. "It sounds so simple, but that's the bottom line if we want to be able to beat a good team like FAU on the road."
The Raiders and Owls get after it again on Friday in the regular season finale which tips at 5:00 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
MT
FAU
FG%
.293
.475
3FG%
.182
.348
FT%
.600
.824
RB
37
44
TO
17
14
STL
7
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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