No. 2 Seed Blue Raiders Prepped to Open CBI Against CBU

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – 2-seeded Middle Tennessee men's basketball will have another shot at post-season play, taking on 15-seed California Baptist in the first round of the 2022 Roman College Basketball Invitational on Saturday, March 19 at 4:00 p.m. CT at the Ocean Center.

The first two rounds of the tournament will be streamed on FloHoops.com, with the semifinals and final broadcast on ESPN2. 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. Advance tickets are available on Ticketmaster. Day-of-game tickets will need to be purchased at the Ocean Center.

The Blue Raiders fell short in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals, dropping a triple-overtime thriller to eventual champion UAB, 102-98. DeAndre Dishman anchored MT with his performance in the conference tournament, scoring a career-high 25 in points with nine rebounds in the loss to UAB. Overall, Dishman scored 43 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists on his way to a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Game 34: No. 2 Middle Tennessee (23-10, 13-5 C-USA) vs. No. 15 California Baptist (18-15, 7-11 WAC)
» Saturday, March 19, 2022 – 4 p.m. CT
» Ocean Center
» Daytona Beach, Fla.

Blue Raiders Notes
» Fifth-year Blue Raider Donovan Sims on Feb. 10 became the 34th member of MT's 1,000-point club. The home-grown guard is fourth all-time with 106 career games started and 136 games played, fourth with 149 steals, seventh with 333 assists and 3,302 minutes, and eighth with 170 3-pointers made.
» The Blue Raiders have made one of the largest year-over-year turnarounds in the country, having improved upon last season's win total by 18. Only Towson (21) has made a bigger leap. MT's +.480 year-over-year winning percentage increase is second-highest in the nation among teams that played 20 or more games in 2020-21.
» Middle Tennessee's 17-game home winning streak is the longest active streak in Conference USA and fourth-longest in program history.
» The Blue Raiders set a program record by winning eight games in the month of February. The last time MT won eight or more games in any month was January 2017 (9-0).
» Teafale Lenard Jr.'s 47 dunks on the season are the second-most by a Blue Raider since 2016-17, trailing only Reggie Scurry's 49 in 2018-19. His 48 blocks are the sixth-most in a season in program history.

Scouting the Lancers
» California Baptist fell to 5-seed Sam Houston in the first round of the WAC Tournament 65-35. Taran Armstrong led CBU with 11 points, the only Lancer to reach double-digits in the contest.
» Four Lancers average double-digits in the scoring column; Ty Rowell (11.7), Tre Armstrong (11.5), Dan Akin (11.1), and Ta. Armstrong (10.).
» Akin is second in the WAC in rebounds per game (8.3) and is fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage (.543). Akin, a transfer from UMBC, was a crucial member of the team that defeated 1-seed Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
» Rowell leads the WAC in three-point percentage (.412), on the season he is 75-for-182 from beyond the arch.
» According to KenPom, the highest measurement CBU ranks in is adjusted tempo, where they sit at .677 and 136th in the nation.

The Quarterfinals Round
With a win against 15-seed CBU, the Blue Raiders would advance to take on the winner of 7-seed UNCG or 10-seed Boston University in the quarterfinals at 6:00 p.m. CT Monday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

DeAndre Dishman

Teafale Lenard Jr.

Donovan Sims

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics