Middle Tennessee men’s hoops return to the Glass House

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – After opening Conference USA play with two close losses on the road in Texas, Middle Tennessee men's basketball (9-6, 0-2) returns home to square off with Florida Atlantic (8-6, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Thursday and FIU (10-5, 0-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Murphy Center.

Both games will be streamed 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 at GoBlueRaiders.com.

The Blue Raiders dropped a 65-61 heartbreaker at Rice and a physical 70-63 contest at North Texas last weekend, coming off a 12-day Covid-related pause.

In the loss to Rice, three Blue Raiders found themselves in double digit scoring, as Eli Lawrence and Josh Jefferson dropped 13 points each and DeAndre Dishman followed with 12 points and six rebounds. Forward Tyler Millin notched a season-high and team-leading eight rebounds in Houston as well.

Two days later MT fell in Denton after the Mean Green went 10-for-17 (.588) from beyond the arc. Jefferson once again led the Raiders in scoring with 19 points and went 6-for-7 (.857) from the charity stripe. Donovan Sims contributed 12 points and a team-leading six rebounds in the loss.

Game 16: Middle Tennessee (9-6, 0-2 C-USA) vs. Florida Atlantic (8-6, 1-0 C-USA)
» Thursday, Jan. 13, 2021 – 6 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Game 17: Middle Tennessee (9-6, 0-2 C-USA) vs. FIU (10-5, 0-2 C-USA)
» Thursday, Jan. 15, 2021 – 5 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.

All-Time vs. Florida Atlantic
» Thursday's game is the 28th meeting between the two programs with the Blue Raiders leading 19-8
» Florida Atlantic has won the last four meetings after snapping a 12-game Middle Tennessee win streak within the rivalry.

All-Time vs. FIU
» Saturday's game is the 43rd meeting between the two programs with the Blue Raiders leading 31-11
» Middle Tennessee won the last contest early last year, defeating the Panthers 67-56 in the Murphy Center on Jan. 9, 2021.

Blue Raiders Notes
» Fifth-year Blue Raider Donovan Sims has made a mark on the MT record book and is closing in on making his presence felt even more. The home-grown guard is tied for eighth with 137 3-pointers made, tied for ninth all-time with 127 career steals, and 10th with 288 assists, 88 games started and 2,778 minutes played. He is also one game away from 10th all-time and 107 points from becoming the 34th member of MT's 1,000-point club
» Middle Tennessee is 25th in the country in turnovers forced per game at 16.80 and 32nd in total steals with 133.
» The Blue Raiders are second in C-USA in turnovers forced per game and third in turnover margin (+3.4), steals per game (8.87), and free throw percentage (.731).
» Josh Jefferson leads the Blue Raiders in scoring at 12.7 points per game and has scored in double figures in four straight games.
» DeAndre Dishman leads MT in rebounding at 4.6 rpg.
» Camryn Weston has been the go-to-player off the bench for Nick McDevitt in the last four games. Weston has scored 36 points on 14-of-25 (.560) shooting while also contributing 13 rebounds, eight assists, and six steals in that span.

Scouting the Owls
» Junior guard Michael Forrest is leading FAU and seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game. His 2.93 made 3-pointers per game are the most in C-USA.
» The underclassman guard duo of Alijah Martin (13.1 ppg) and Bryan Greenlee (10.3 ppg) accounts for 30 percent of the Owls' offensive output.
» 7-foot-1 center Vladislov Goldin leads the Owls in rebounding, averaging 5.5 per contest. His season high of 11 came against Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 11.
» Head coach Dusty May is in his fourth season at the helm of FAU. In his first three seasons with the Owls he compiled a record of 47-41.
» FAU is 8-6 on the season, including a 90-77 win over C-USA foe Marshall to begin the conference slate on the road.
» Against their lone common nonconference opponent, the Owls and Blue Raiders are a combined 3-0. MT is 2-0 against UT Martin on the year with an 11-point average margin of victory. FAU defeated te Skyhawks 75-67 on November 19, 2021.

Scouting the Panthers
» FIU comes to Murfreesboro on Saturday after taking on UAB in Birmingham on Thursday.
» As of Wednesday, leading scorer Tevin Brewer leads C-USA in assists at 6.33 per game and is fifth in scoring at 15.5 points per game.
» After an eight-game winning streak early in the year, FIU has lost four of its last six games heading into its matchup with the Blazers.
» Panthers head coach Jeremy Ballard has his team poised for its third winning season in his four years at the helm.
» FIU holds opponents to a .399 field goal percentage and just .291 from beyond the arc, both the second-lowest marks in the conference.
» The Panthers' 10.7 made 3-pointers per game and 451 total attempts lead the league and rank 13th nationally. Their .355 3-point percentage is fourth in the conference and 104th nationally.

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Players Mentioned

DeAndre Dishman

Josh Jefferson

Eli Lawrence

Tyler Millin

Donovan Sims

Camryn Weston

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics