Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, February 5
Birmingham, AL
3:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
at
UAB
Middle Tennessee Rides Hot Streak to UAB
2/4/2022 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Coming off two exciting road wins last week, Middle Tennessee men's basketball (14-6, 5-2) is set to travel to Birmingham, Ala. for a Conference USA matchup against UAB (17-5, 7-2) on Saturday, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Bartow Arena. The Blue Raiders head to Birmingham in first place in the C-USA East Division.
Saturday's game 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. For fans wanting to see the Blue Raiders on the road, tickets are available on the Blazers' website.
Middle Tennessee is currently on a five-game winning streak. Last weekend, the Blue Raiders used a pair of Camryn Weston free throws to take the lead with six seconds remaining in an 81-79 victory Thursday at Marshall. Weston's 19 points led a quartet of Blue Raiders scoring in double figures.
Two days later, MT took down the Western Kentucky 93-85 for the first win in Bowling Green since Jan. 20, 2018. Josh Jefferson was red-hot from the floor, setting a career high with 31 points on 8-of-11 shooting with seven made threes. Donovan Sims set a season high with 22 points in the contest and led the team with six rebounds and six assists. Justin Bufford set a career high with six rebounds of his own.
Game 21: Middle Tennessee (14-6, 5-2 C-USA) at UAB (17-5, 7-2 C-USA)
» Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 – 3 p.m. CT
» Bartow Arena
» Birmingham, Ala.
All-Time vs. UAB
» The Blazers lead the all-time series 15-9.
» Middle Tennessee has won six of the last 11 meetings between the two teams The MT win at UAB came on Feb. 2, 2019, as the Blue Raiders erased a 13-point deficit to win 79-78.
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 fifth all-time with 92 games started, tied for seventh with 122 games played, eighth with 145 3-pointers made, ninth with 131 career steals and 295 assists and 10th with 2,886 minutes. He is also 55 points from becoming the 34th member of MT's 1,000-point club.
» Middle Tennessee is 25th in the country and second in the conference behind UAB in turnovers forced per game at 16.4.
» The Blue Raiders are second in C-USA in turnovers forced per game and third in turnover margin (+3.15), steals per game (8.75), and free throw percentage (.739).
» Josh Jefferson leads the Blue Raiders in scoring at 13.6 points per game after a career-high 31 points against WKU and has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games.
» All six healthy Blue Raiders who returned from 2020-21 are averaging more points per game than last year, led by Eli Lawrence's 4.8 ppg increase (5.1 to 9.9).
» DeAndre Dishman leads MT in rebounding at 4.6 rpg and has started every game of his Blue Raider career.
» Teafale Lenard Jr. leads the team with 27dunks this season, tied for the second-most by a Blue Raider since the 2016-17 season. The freshman from Snyder, Texas, is behind only Reggie Scurry's 2018-19 total of 49 during that span.
Scouting the Blazers
» UAB returns home after suffering an 84-81 loss at Marshall that snapped a four-game win streak.
» The Blazers lead the C-USA in scoring margin at +16.55, six points more than second-place Louisiana Tech (+10.48).
» UAB is ninth in the country in turnovers forced at 17.88 per contest and the only team in C-USA better than MT.
» Andy Kennedy is in his second season at the helm of UAB, over those two seasons he has compiled a 39-12 record (.764). Kennedy was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year at Ole Miss, where he earned 245 and two NCAA tournament berths in 12 seasons.
» Junior Jordan Walker is leading the Blazers and is fourth in the league with 18.3 points per game. His mark of 3.24 3-pointers made per game leads C-USA and ranks 19th nationally as of Thursday.
» Quan Jackson is third nationally and leads the conference with 55 steals on the season.
» UAB's No. 45 spot in the NCAA NET Rankings entering Thursday is the highest of any C-USA team.
Saturday's game 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. For fans wanting to see the Blue Raiders on the road, tickets are available on the Blazers' website.
Middle Tennessee is currently on a five-game winning streak. Last weekend, the Blue Raiders used a pair of Camryn Weston free throws to take the lead with six seconds remaining in an 81-79 victory Thursday at Marshall. Weston's 19 points led a quartet of Blue Raiders scoring in double figures.
Two days later, MT took down the Western Kentucky 93-85 for the first win in Bowling Green since Jan. 20, 2018. Josh Jefferson was red-hot from the floor, setting a career high with 31 points on 8-of-11 shooting with seven made threes. Donovan Sims set a season high with 22 points in the contest and led the team with six rebounds and six assists. Justin Bufford set a career high with six rebounds of his own.
Game 21: Middle Tennessee (14-6, 5-2 C-USA) at UAB (17-5, 7-2 C-USA)
» Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 – 3 p.m. CT
» Bartow Arena
» Birmingham, Ala.
All-Time vs. UAB
» The Blazers lead the all-time series 15-9.
» Middle Tennessee has won six of the last 11 meetings between the two teams The MT win at UAB came on Feb. 2, 2019, as the Blue Raiders erased a 13-point deficit to win 79-78.
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 fifth all-time with 92 games started, tied for seventh with 122 games played, eighth with 145 3-pointers made, ninth with 131 career steals and 295 assists and 10th with 2,886 minutes. He is also 55 points from becoming the 34th member of MT's 1,000-point club.
» Middle Tennessee is 25th in the country and second in the conference behind UAB in turnovers forced per game at 16.4.
» The Blue Raiders are second in C-USA in turnovers forced per game and third in turnover margin (+3.15), steals per game (8.75), and free throw percentage (.739).
» Josh Jefferson leads the Blue Raiders in scoring at 13.6 points per game after a career-high 31 points against WKU and has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games.
» All six healthy Blue Raiders who returned from 2020-21 are averaging more points per game than last year, led by Eli Lawrence's 4.8 ppg increase (5.1 to 9.9).
» DeAndre Dishman leads MT in rebounding at 4.6 rpg and has started every game of his Blue Raider career.
» Teafale Lenard Jr. leads the team with 27dunks this season, tied for the second-most by a Blue Raider since the 2016-17 season. The freshman from Snyder, Texas, is behind only Reggie Scurry's 2018-19 total of 49 during that span.
Scouting the Blazers
» UAB returns home after suffering an 84-81 loss at Marshall that snapped a four-game win streak.
» The Blazers lead the C-USA in scoring margin at +16.55, six points more than second-place Louisiana Tech (+10.48).
» UAB is ninth in the country in turnovers forced at 17.88 per contest and the only team in C-USA better than MT.
» Andy Kennedy is in his second season at the helm of UAB, over those two seasons he has compiled a 39-12 record (.764). Kennedy was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year at Ole Miss, where he earned 245 and two NCAA tournament berths in 12 seasons.
» Junior Jordan Walker is leading the Blazers and is fourth in the league with 18.3 points per game. His mark of 3.24 3-pointers made per game leads C-USA and ranks 19th nationally as of Thursday.
» Quan Jackson is third nationally and leads the conference with 55 steals on the season.
» UAB's No. 45 spot in the NCAA NET Rankings entering Thursday is the highest of any C-USA team.
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