Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, March 5
Boca Raton, FL
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
-517,313 CUSA
54
at
63
Florida Atlantic
-129,75 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tennessee
22
32
54
Fla. Atlantic
41
22
63
Spirited rally in Boca Raton falls short for Men's Hoops
3/5/2021 7:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – A spirited second half run saw Middle Tennessee nearly erase a 19-point deficit Friday evening at Florida Atlantic, but the run came up just short as the Owls closed out a 63-54 win against the Blue Raiders.
After an atrocious start to the evening shooting the ball, the Raiders fought their hearts out with eight offensive rebounds, seven steals on 10 Owl turnovers, and only three turnovers themselves in the second half leading to a late battle in Boca Raton.
"I thought our fight and our energy level, particularly in the second half, was really good," Head Coach Nick McDevitt stated. "We were able to cut it to two possessions late and we just couldn't quite finish off the comeback, but after a tough loss yesterday and a tough start tonight I really liked how our guys refused to give up."
The highly efficient FAU offense started the evening off 5 for 5 with a pair of triples in under three minutes to open a quick 12-0 lead before Jalen Jordan stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer from the wing to get MT on the scoreboard.
The Raiders began to settle in on the defensive end, holding the Owls to just six points over the next six minutes, but failed to capitalize on the offensive end with a stretch of nine and a half minutes of game action in which their only points came from the free throw line.
It was Jordan who would stop the bleeding again, as he appeared to be the lone aggressor on offense for Middle Tennessee as they closed out the half with just 22 points – 11 of which came from Jordan – on 4 of 24 shooting.
Trailing 41-22 coming out of the locker room, Jordan got the ball rolling with an 18-foot jumper on the second half's first possession.
DeAndre Dishman drew a charge on one end and posted up, spun and laid it in for two on the ensuing trip down the floor to put the Blue Raiders back within 15.
Middle Tennessee scored four times in its first five possessions after the break, but the Owl offense didn't cool off a bit during halftime after shooting 51.4 percent from the floor in the opening half.
Jordan Davis would get the Raiders within 11 just outside of the 10-minute mark with a high floater off the glass making the score 53-42, but FAU stretched it back to 16 just moments later.
As the clock ticked down, MT's defense was able to spark a 10-0 run over four and a half minutes in which five different Raiders scored and made it a ball game in Boca Raton.
Feeling some pressure with the scoreboard reading 58-52, FAU went to the paint where it had been so good all series long to end the drought with 3:20 on the clock.
Eli Lawrence threw down a high-flying alley oop at 1:03 to keep the deficit at six, but Middle Tennessee would need something special to happen in the final minute after a timeout taken to setup the defense.
Jordan finished the night with a game-high 17 points, eight of which came at the charity stripe. Davis tallied 12 points while Dishman added eight points and collected four steals. Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss grabbed a team-high eight rebounds off the bench.
Middle Tennessee now eyes the Conference USA Championship, which will begin for the Blue Raiders with a Tuesday matchup against FIU.
"We'll have to have this same fight again next week to win in the tournament, but we'll have to have it for all 40 minutes," McDevitt added. "The intensity level ticks up a notch in the postseason, you can feel the urgency in every postseason, so we have to get better this weekend and bring that fight to Frisco starting Tuesday night."
The Raiders and Panthers split the regular season series in Murfreesboro while MT was playing with just nine players due to COVID-19 protocols.
After an atrocious start to the evening shooting the ball, the Raiders fought their hearts out with eight offensive rebounds, seven steals on 10 Owl turnovers, and only three turnovers themselves in the second half leading to a late battle in Boca Raton.
"I thought our fight and our energy level, particularly in the second half, was really good," Head Coach Nick McDevitt stated. "We were able to cut it to two possessions late and we just couldn't quite finish off the comeback, but after a tough loss yesterday and a tough start tonight I really liked how our guys refused to give up."
The highly efficient FAU offense started the evening off 5 for 5 with a pair of triples in under three minutes to open a quick 12-0 lead before Jalen Jordan stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer from the wing to get MT on the scoreboard.
The Raiders began to settle in on the defensive end, holding the Owls to just six points over the next six minutes, but failed to capitalize on the offensive end with a stretch of nine and a half minutes of game action in which their only points came from the free throw line.
It was Jordan who would stop the bleeding again, as he appeared to be the lone aggressor on offense for Middle Tennessee as they closed out the half with just 22 points – 11 of which came from Jordan – on 4 of 24 shooting.
Trailing 41-22 coming out of the locker room, Jordan got the ball rolling with an 18-foot jumper on the second half's first possession.
DeAndre Dishman drew a charge on one end and posted up, spun and laid it in for two on the ensuing trip down the floor to put the Blue Raiders back within 15.
Middle Tennessee scored four times in its first five possessions after the break, but the Owl offense didn't cool off a bit during halftime after shooting 51.4 percent from the floor in the opening half.
Jordan Davis would get the Raiders within 11 just outside of the 10-minute mark with a high floater off the glass making the score 53-42, but FAU stretched it back to 16 just moments later.
As the clock ticked down, MT's defense was able to spark a 10-0 run over four and a half minutes in which five different Raiders scored and made it a ball game in Boca Raton.
Feeling some pressure with the scoreboard reading 58-52, FAU went to the paint where it had been so good all series long to end the drought with 3:20 on the clock.
Eli Lawrence threw down a high-flying alley oop at 1:03 to keep the deficit at six, but Middle Tennessee would need something special to happen in the final minute after a timeout taken to setup the defense.
Jordan finished the night with a game-high 17 points, eight of which came at the charity stripe. Davis tallied 12 points while Dishman added eight points and collected four steals. Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss grabbed a team-high eight rebounds off the bench.
Middle Tennessee now eyes the Conference USA Championship, which will begin for the Blue Raiders with a Tuesday matchup against FIU.
"We'll have to have this same fight again next week to win in the tournament, but we'll have to have it for all 40 minutes," McDevitt added. "The intensity level ticks up a notch in the postseason, you can feel the urgency in every postseason, so we have to get better this weekend and bring that fight to Frisco starting Tuesday night."
The Raiders and Panthers split the regular season series in Murfreesboro while MT was playing with just nine players due to COVID-19 protocols.
Team Stats
MT
FAU
FG%
.293
.453
3FG%
.200
.292
FT%
.762
.471
RB
33
45
TO
11
17
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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