Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders head to Houston to complete season series with Rice
1/10/2023 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON – Middle Tennessee men's basketball earned its first Conference USA win of the season on Nov. 15 over Rice. Wednesday, nearly two months after MTSU's one-sided home win, it will see an Owls squad that are winners in 10 of its past 12 contests.
The Blue Raiders will look to snap a two-game slide in league play. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+ and can be heard on 94.9 The Fan, 95.1 in Murfreesboro. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will also carry the audio.
Game 17: Middle Tennessee (9-7, 2-3 C-USA) at Rice (11-4, 2-2 C-USA)
» Wednesday, January 11, 2022 – 7:00 p.m. CT
» Tudor Fieldhouse
» Houston, Texas
All-Time Against Rice
» The all-time series is tied, 7-7.
» In November, the Blue Raiders halted a five-game slide against the Owls dating back to January 2019.
Last Time Against Rice
» The Blue Raiders blitzed Rice 81-46 in Game 3 of the season, leaving little suspense as they raced out to a 30-point lead in the first half.
» The 36-point margin was the largest margin MTSU has won in a conference game since defeating Marshall by 39 points, 90-51 in at the Murphy Center on February 19, 2015.
» Eli Lawrence led all scorers with 16 points, only missing one shot all night to finish the evening 6-for-7, including 4-for-5 for three.
» The Blue Raiders were dominant defensively all night, holding the Owls to just 14.3 percent (2-for-14) beyond the arc.
Blue Raider Notes
» Middle Tennessee has shot .756 (59-78) from the free throw line over its last six games. The Blue Raiders had shot .633 from the charity stripe over its first 10 games.
» On November 15, MTSU held C-USA assists and assists/turnover leader Max Fiedler to two assists and 6 turnovers.
» MTSU joins Miami (FL) and Navy as the only teams in the country to neither lose a player to the trans- fer portal nor add a player from it during the 2022 offseason.
» Teafale Lenard, Jr., had a career game at Belmont in which he set personal bests in points (20), rebounds (8) and blocks (6) while adding three assists and three steals. His six blocks are tied for the fourth most in a game in program history, and MTSU's 13 blocks in the game established a new program record.
» Lenard is 42nd in the country in blocked shots with 28, while the team is 43rd nationally with 4.6 blocks per game. He is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 86.
» Lenard is on pace to surpass his program record of 50 dunks by the end of the regular season.
» DeAndre Dishman is one of just seven seventh-year players in Division I men's basketball this season.
» Eli Lawrence has shot .517 (30-58) from the floor over his last six games, including a .414 (12-29) clip from 3-point range, for an average of 14.7 points per game. That stretch includes two 20-point games and a double-double.
» Lawrence enters Wednesday's game with 873 career points. If he averages 8.5 points per game the rest of the way, he will reach the 1,000-point mark by the end of the regular season.
» Jared Coleman-Jones went 704 days without making a 3-pointer before hitting threes in back-to- back games Dec. 29-31.
Scouting the Owls
» Before losing in overtime against Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Rice had won six consecutive games.
» The Owls are 10-2 since their November loss at the Murphy Center. Both losses in that stretch have come in overtime, including an 87-81 setback at then-No. 7 Texas.
» Rice is 17th in the country and second in C-USA in scoring, averaging 82.5 points per game.
» Max Fiedler leads the league in both rebounding (8.6 rpg) and assists (5.0 apg).
» Four Owls average at least 10 points per game, with junior guard Quincy Olivari pacing the team with 18 points. Junior guard Travis Evee follows closely at 16.1 points per game.
» Evee scored 28 Thursday against LA Tech, his fifth 20-point game of the season. Olivari meanwhile added 16 points in his 12th straight double figure scoring game.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).
The Blue Raiders will look to snap a two-game slide in league play. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+ and can be heard on 94.9 The Fan, 95.1 in Murfreesboro. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will also carry the audio.
Game 17: Middle Tennessee (9-7, 2-3 C-USA) at Rice (11-4, 2-2 C-USA)
» Wednesday, January 11, 2022 – 7:00 p.m. CT
» Tudor Fieldhouse
» Houston, Texas
All-Time Against Rice
» The all-time series is tied, 7-7.
» In November, the Blue Raiders halted a five-game slide against the Owls dating back to January 2019.
Last Time Against Rice
» The Blue Raiders blitzed Rice 81-46 in Game 3 of the season, leaving little suspense as they raced out to a 30-point lead in the first half.
» The 36-point margin was the largest margin MTSU has won in a conference game since defeating Marshall by 39 points, 90-51 in at the Murphy Center on February 19, 2015.
» Eli Lawrence led all scorers with 16 points, only missing one shot all night to finish the evening 6-for-7, including 4-for-5 for three.
» The Blue Raiders were dominant defensively all night, holding the Owls to just 14.3 percent (2-for-14) beyond the arc.
Blue Raider Notes
» Middle Tennessee has shot .756 (59-78) from the free throw line over its last six games. The Blue Raiders had shot .633 from the charity stripe over its first 10 games.
» On November 15, MTSU held C-USA assists and assists/turnover leader Max Fiedler to two assists and 6 turnovers.
» MTSU joins Miami (FL) and Navy as the only teams in the country to neither lose a player to the trans- fer portal nor add a player from it during the 2022 offseason.
» Teafale Lenard, Jr., had a career game at Belmont in which he set personal bests in points (20), rebounds (8) and blocks (6) while adding three assists and three steals. His six blocks are tied for the fourth most in a game in program history, and MTSU's 13 blocks in the game established a new program record.
» Lenard is 42nd in the country in blocked shots with 28, while the team is 43rd nationally with 4.6 blocks per game. He is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 86.
» Lenard is on pace to surpass his program record of 50 dunks by the end of the regular season.
» DeAndre Dishman is one of just seven seventh-year players in Division I men's basketball this season.
» Eli Lawrence has shot .517 (30-58) from the floor over his last six games, including a .414 (12-29) clip from 3-point range, for an average of 14.7 points per game. That stretch includes two 20-point games and a double-double.
» Lawrence enters Wednesday's game with 873 career points. If he averages 8.5 points per game the rest of the way, he will reach the 1,000-point mark by the end of the regular season.
» Jared Coleman-Jones went 704 days without making a 3-pointer before hitting threes in back-to- back games Dec. 29-31.
Scouting the Owls
» Before losing in overtime against Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Rice had won six consecutive games.
» The Owls are 10-2 since their November loss at the Murphy Center. Both losses in that stretch have come in overtime, including an 87-81 setback at then-No. 7 Texas.
» Rice is 17th in the country and second in C-USA in scoring, averaging 82.5 points per game.
» Max Fiedler leads the league in both rebounding (8.6 rpg) and assists (5.0 apg).
» Four Owls average at least 10 points per game, with junior guard Quincy Olivari pacing the team with 18 points. Junior guard Travis Evee follows closely at 16.1 points per game.
» Evee scored 28 Thursday against LA Tech, his fifth 20-point game of the season. Olivari meanwhile added 16 points in his 12th straight double figure scoring game.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).
Players Mentioned
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