Blue Raiders Depart for C-USA Clashes in Florida

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Coming off a 3-0 performance during a week-long homestand , Middle Tennessee (17-7, 8-3) sets off for Florida to take on Conference USA opponents FIU on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6:00 p.m. CT and Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Both games will be broadcast on CUSA.tv. 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 on the call. Tickets against FIU can be found on the Panthers' website. For the game against FAU, tickets can be found here.

In Sunday's win over Charlotte, Josh Jefferson notched his second career 30-point game.. His performance against the 49ers was enough to make him the first Blue Raider to be named Conference USA Player of the Week since 2018. Jefferson added five rebounds and shot eight-of-nine from the charity stripe.

Teafale Lenard Jr. secured his third C-USA Freshman of the Week honor on the season. Against Charlotte, ODU, and UTSA he averaged 5.0 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Two other Blue Raiders scored in double figures against Charlotte. DeAndre Dishman added 10 points and seven boards, and Tyler Millin notched 11 points and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arch.

Game 25: Middle Tennessee (17-7, 8-3 C-USA) at FIU (14-11, 4-8 C-USA)
» Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022 – 6 p.m. CT
» Ocean Bank Convocation Center
» Miami, Fla.

Game 26: Middle Tennessee (17-7, 8-3 C-USA) at Florida Atlantic (15-10, 8-4 C-USA)
» Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 – 3 p.m. CT
» Abessinio Court at FAU Arena
» Boca Raton, Fla.

All-Time vs. FIU
» Thursday's game will be the 44th meeting between MT and FIU, the Blue Raiders own a commanding 32-11 head-to-head record over the Panthers
» A win on Thursday would give MT the advantage in games played at the OBCC. The series is knotted at 15 all in FIU's arena.
» The two teams' meeting on Jan. 15 - a 50-39 Blue Raider win at the Murphy Center - was MT's lowest-scoring game since Jan. 14, 1985, a 45-43 win over Eastern Kentucky

All-Time vs. FAU
» MT defeated the Owls 70-57 on Jan. 13 inside the Murphy Center for the first time since March 4, 2017.
» Saturday's game will be the 29th meeting between MT and FAU. Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series 20-8.
» The Blue Raiders have not won in Boca Raton since Jan. 6, 2018.

Blue Raiders Notes
» Fifth-year Blue Raider Donovan Sims became the 34th member of the Blue Raider men's basketball 1,000-point club against ODU. The home-grown guard is fifth all-time with 97 career games started, sixth with 127 games played, eighth with 156 3-pointers made, 313 assists and 3,023 minutes and tied for eighth with 137 steals.
» Middle Tennessee is second in the conference in turnovers forced per game at 15.54 and in 3-point percentage defense at 32.1 percent.
» Josh Jefferson leads the Blue Raiders in scoring at 14.0 points per game. The graduate transfer is shooting 64-for-70 (.914) from the charity stripe this season, which is first in C-USA and 11th in the country.
» DeAndre Dishman leads MT in rebounding at 4.7 rpg and has started every game of his Blue Raider career.
» Teafale Lenard Jr.'s 31 dunks on the season are the second-most by a Blue Raider since 2016-17, trailing only Reggie Scurry's 49 in 2018-19. After blocking seven shots in his last three games, Lenard is sixth in Conference USA and 87th nationally with 31 rejections on the season.
» MT has spent exactly 180 seconds trailing on the scoreboard over its last three games. That amounts to 2.5 percent of game time.

Scouting the Panthers
» FIU has lost four of its last six games heading into Thursday's game.
» The Panthers love to shoot the deep ball. They rank first in the conference and 17th nationally in 3-point attempts (701). They also lead the conference and rank 14th in the country in 3-pointers made at 249. However, FIU's 3-point percentage of .355 is just seventh in the league and 88th nationally.
» Tevin Brewer leads the Owls and is eighthin the league with 15.2 points per contest. Last time out against MT, he scored just five points in 35 minutes of action.
» Clevon Brown leads FIU in rebounding, averaging 5.3 per contest.
» Freshman Denver Jones is the only other Panther averaging double digits in the scoring column for FIU, with 12.6 ppg.
» Four of FIU's last five opponents have shot better than 40 percent from long range.
» The Blue Raiders held FIU's three leading scorers (who all played over 30 minutes in the contest) to just 18 combined points in the 50-39 win on Jan. 15.

Scouting the Owls
» FAU gained momentum after its loss to Middle Tennessee, they have won seven out of their last 10 games after dropping a 70-57 contest to MT inside the Murphy Center.
» Michael Forrest leads FAU in points per game (14.4) and total 3-points FGs made (49), the Blue Raiders held him to three points last time out.
» Florida Atlantic is inside the top 30 in the country at 3-points field goals per game (9.3).
» Freshman Alijah Martin leads the Owls in rebounding at 5.3 boards per game and was FAU's leading scorer in Murfreesboro on Jan. 13. 7-foot-1 big man Vladislav Goldin is right behind him with 5.2 rpg. He notched seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of action at the Glass House earlier this season.

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Players Mentioned

DeAndre Dishman

Josh Jefferson

Teafale Lenard Jr.

Tyler Millin

Donovan Sims

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics