Blue Raiders return home Tuesday for C-USA opener

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Conference USA play is off to an early start this season, as Middle Tennessee men's basketball will open its conference slate Tuesday at the Murphy Center when it faces Rice for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

This is the first of 20 regular-season C-USA tilts and the only one for the Blue Raiders before December 29.

Head coach Nick McDevitt's team will look to get back above .500 at home after dropping a 76-68 decision at Winthrop on Saturday, a game Middle Tennessee got within four points in the final minute after trailing by as much as 19.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can tune into the radio broadcast WGNS 1450AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM; and The Fan 94.9 FM/95.1 FM with Chip Walters on the call.

Game 3: Middle Tennessee (1-1, 0-0 C-USA) vs. Rice (1-1, 0-0 C-USA)
» Tuesday, November 15, 2022 – 6 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.
» Promotion: It will be Sweet Steal Night at the Murphy Center! Don't miss the sweet station on the concourse! Also, fans can claim 3-point foam hand when arriving.

All-Time vs. Rice
» MT trails in the all-time series, 6-7.
» The Blue Raiders will look to halt a five-game slide against the Owls dating back to January 2019. Last season, Rice dispatched Middle Tennessee 65-61 in Houston.

Blue Raiders Notes
» MTSU fell to 1-1 with their loss at Winthrop on Saturday. The Blue Raiders outscored the Eagles 27-19 over the final 10 and a half minutes, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 19-point deficit and a second-half 1-for-17 showing from 3-point range.
» Middle Tennessee extended Conference USA's longest active home winning streak to 18 games, the fourth-longest such streak in program history last week. At 15-0 at the Murphy Center last year, the Blue Raiders recorded their fifth-ever undefeated record at home.
» The Blue Raiders are seventh in the nation in offensive rebounding at 18.0 per game.
» Tuesday's game is the earliest on the calendar (11/15) MTSU has ever played a conference game. It is also the earliest into the schedule (third game) the Blue Raiders have played a league contest since the 1960-61 season and the second C-USA game they have played before New Year's.
» Tuesday has been Wins-Day for MTSU, as the Blue Raiders have won 11 straight contests played on Tuesdays, dating back to December 2015.
» The Blue Raiders made the largest year-over-year turnaround in the country in 2021-22, improving upon the previous season's win total by 21, tying with Towson for a new NCAA record.
» DeAndre Dishman is one of just six seventh-year players in Division I men's basketball this season. His 14 points and 10 rebounds at Winthrop on Saturday marked his second double-double as a Blue Raider and the fourth of his college career.
» With 50 dunks last season, freshman Teafale Lenard broke the MT single-season record of 49 set by Reggie Scurry in 2018-19. After his 15th career multi-block game Saturday, he needs one rejection to tie Perrin Buford for eighth in program history with 62 for his career.
» Nick McDevitt added both C-USA Coach of the Year and NABC District 11 Coach of the Year honors to his mantle in 2021-22.

Scouting the Owls
» Rice is 1-1 on the year, having dropped its regular-season opener 106-67 at Pepperdine before returning home for an 85-48 win over Division III St. Thomas (TX) on Thursday.
» The Owls were picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll.
» Junior guard Travis Evee is averaging a team-high 18.5 points through two games.
» Preseason All-Conference selection Quincy Olivari leads Rice with 7.5 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 11.5 points and 3.0 assists per game.
» Big man Max Fiedler is third in C-USA with 10 assists on the year.
» Head coach Scott Pera is coaching his sixth season in Houston, having guided Rice to a 16-17 record and a 7-11 league mark in 2021-22. His Owls finished fifth in the C-USA West Division a season ago and suffered a first-round exit in the College Basketball Invitational in the postseason.
» Rice returns seven letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad. Three of its top four scorers from last season are back.
» Evee's 27 points and Olivari's 12 rebounds were game-highs against St. Thomas.

Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).

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Players Mentioned

DeAndre Dishman

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics