Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders to take on Charlotte, LA Tech
1/18/2023 11:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Having won each of its past two games in dramatic fashion, Middle Tennessee men's basketball will carry momentum to its next two games as the Conference USA race begins to heat up.
Charlotte comes to Murfreesboro for a Thursday night rematch of the Blue Raiders' road loss on Dec. 29. MTSU will then hit the road Saturday for the first of three straight away games, taking on LA Tech at 4 p.m.
Both games will be available on ESPN+. Thursday's game will air on 94.9/95.1 The Fan, while Saturday's game can be heard on The Fan as well as on WGNS 101.9 FM/1450 AM and 100.5. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will also carry the audio for both games.
Game 19: Middle Tennessee (11-7, 4-3 C-USA) vs. Charlotte (12-6, 3-4 C-USA)
» Thursday, January 19, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Game 20: Middle Tennessee (11-7, 4-3 C-USA) at LA Tech (10-8, 3-4 C-USA)
» Saturday, January 21, 2022 – 4:00 p.m. CT
» Thomas Assembly Center
» Ruston, La.
Promotions
» 6th Man Night
» Black "6th Man" shirsey for first 200 students
» Black "6th man" rally towels for first 500 fans
» The Blue Raiders will wear their black alternate uniforms.
All-Time Against Charlotte and LA Tech
» Despite an 82-67 loss at Charlotte in late December, the Blue Raiders hold a 12-4 edge in the all-time series. The 49ers have never defeated the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro.
» Middle Tennessee will see the Bulldogs for the first time since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. MTSU trails the all-time series 13-5, looking for its first win over LA Tech since the 2017-18 campaign.
Blue Raider Notes
» Middle Tennessee is averaging 5.4 blocked shots per game, ranking 18th in the country through Monday's action with what would be the highest blocks per game average in program history.
» MTSU joins Navy as the only teams in the country to neither lose a player to the transfer 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 31st in the country in blocked shots with 35 and 35th in blocks per game with 1.94. Midway through his sophomore season, he is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 93.
» 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.
» Dishman picked up his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
» Eli Lawrence is averaging 15.3 points per game over his last eight appearances. He has shot .488 42-86) from the floor over his last eight games, including a .400 (16-40) clip from 3-point range. That stretch includes three 20-point games and a double-double.
» Lawrence enters Thursday's game with 907 career points. If he averages 7.2 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 49ers
» Charlotte is 2-3 since the two teams met on Dec. 29.
» The 49ers currently occupy the sixth-place spot with four other teams in C-USA.
» Brice Williams leads Charlotte with 11.8 points per game. Forward Aly Khalifa follows closely with 10.8 points per game.
» Williams set a season-high with 31 points on Dec. 29, a feat he matched his next time out. However, he has been held under 10 points in his last two games and has eclipsed 15 points just two other times this year.
» Khalifa is fourth in C-USA in rebounding at 7.1 boards per game and is second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.1.
» Allowing just 60.8 points per game, Charlotte ranks second in the league in scoring defense.
Scouting the Bulldogs
» LA Tech currently sits in the four-way tie for sixth place alongside Charlotte, WKU and UTEP.
» The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game with WKU having lost two straight games to UAB and North Texas.
» Cobe Williams averages 18.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, both figures good for the team lead and fourth in C-USA.
» LA Tech has shot better than 40 percent from the floor in all but two games on the year.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).
Charlotte comes to Murfreesboro for a Thursday night rematch of the Blue Raiders' road loss on Dec. 29. MTSU will then hit the road Saturday for the first of three straight away games, taking on LA Tech at 4 p.m.
Both games will be available on ESPN+. Thursday's game will air on 94.9/95.1 The Fan, while Saturday's game can be heard on The Fan as well as on WGNS 101.9 FM/1450 AM and 100.5. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will also carry the audio for both games.
Game 19: Middle Tennessee (11-7, 4-3 C-USA) vs. Charlotte (12-6, 3-4 C-USA)
» Thursday, January 19, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Murphy Center
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Game 20: Middle Tennessee (11-7, 4-3 C-USA) at LA Tech (10-8, 3-4 C-USA)
» Saturday, January 21, 2022 – 4:00 p.m. CT
» Thomas Assembly Center
» Ruston, La.
Promotions
» 6th Man Night
» Black "6th Man" shirsey for first 200 students
» Black "6th man" rally towels for first 500 fans
» The Blue Raiders will wear their black alternate uniforms.
All-Time Against Charlotte and LA Tech
» Despite an 82-67 loss at Charlotte in late December, the Blue Raiders hold a 12-4 edge in the all-time series. The 49ers have never defeated the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro.
» Middle Tennessee will see the Bulldogs for the first time since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. MTSU trails the all-time series 13-5, looking for its first win over LA Tech since the 2017-18 campaign.
Blue Raider Notes
» Middle Tennessee is averaging 5.4 blocked shots per game, ranking 18th in the country through Monday's action with what would be the highest blocks per game average in program history.
» MTSU joins Navy as the only teams in the country to neither lose a player to the transfer 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 31st in the country in blocked shots with 35 and 35th in blocks per game with 1.94. Midway through his sophomore season, he is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 93.
» 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.
» Dishman picked up his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
» Eli Lawrence is averaging 15.3 points per game over his last eight appearances. He has shot .488 42-86) from the floor over his last eight games, including a .400 (16-40) clip from 3-point range. That stretch includes three 20-point games and a double-double.
» Lawrence enters Thursday's game with 907 career points. If he averages 7.2 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 49ers
» Charlotte is 2-3 since the two teams met on Dec. 29.
» The 49ers currently occupy the sixth-place spot with four other teams in C-USA.
» Brice Williams leads Charlotte with 11.8 points per game. Forward Aly Khalifa follows closely with 10.8 points per game.
» Williams set a season-high with 31 points on Dec. 29, a feat he matched his next time out. However, he has been held under 10 points in his last two games and has eclipsed 15 points just two other times this year.
» Khalifa is fourth in C-USA in rebounding at 7.1 boards per game and is second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.1.
» Allowing just 60.8 points per game, Charlotte ranks second in the league in scoring defense.
Scouting the Bulldogs
» LA Tech currently sits in the four-way tie for sixth place alongside Charlotte, WKU and UTEP.
» The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game with WKU having lost two straight games to UAB and North Texas.
» Cobe Williams averages 18.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, both figures good for the team lead and fourth in C-USA.
» LA Tech has shot better than 40 percent from the floor in all but two games on the year.
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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