Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders take four-game winning streak to South Florida
1/25/2023 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MTSU will face road tests at No. 21 Florida Atlantic, FIU
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Winners of four straight games, Middle Tennessee men's basketball rides momentum into its toughest test of the season. The Blue Raiders head to Boca Raton on Thursday to take on No. 21 Florida Atlantic before finishing off a three-game road swing at FIU on Saturday.
Both games will tip off at 6 p.m. CT. Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic will be shown on CBS Sports Network, while the FIU contest is available on ESPN+. Both games will be broadcast on 94.9 The Fan, 95.1 in Murfreesboro, while Saturday's contest will also air on WGNS 101.9 FM, 100.5 FM, and 1450 AM. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will carry the digital audio.
Game 21: Middle Tennessee (13-7, 6-3 C-USA) at Florida Atlantic (19-1, 9-0 C-USA)
» Thursday, January 26, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena
» Boca Raton, FL
Game 22: Middle Tennessee (13-7, 6-3 C-USA) at FIU (9-11, 3-6 C-USA)
» Saturday, January 28, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Ocean Bank Convocation Center
» Miami, FL
All-Time Against Florida Atlantic and FIU
» The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series with Florida Atlantic, 21-8. MTSU swept the season series over the Owls in 2021-22.
» Middle Tennessee also leads the all-time series over FIU, 33-11, having won three straight over the Panthers.
Blue Raider Notes
» Through January 23, Middle Tennessee is 18th in Division I with an average of 5.2 blocked shots per game.
» Thursday's game will be the Blue Raiders' first against a ranked team since taking on No. 17 Villanova on November 21, 2019. MTSU's lone win over a ranked team was its 2016 NCAA Tournament upset of No. 2 Michigan State.
» 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., is 27th in the country in blocked shots with 39 and 32nd in blocks per game with 1.95. He is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 97.
» With 36 dunks on the year, Lenard is on pace to surpass his program record of 50 by the end of the regular season.
» DeAndre Dishman is one of just seven seventh-year players in Division I men's basketball.
» Dishman picked up his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
» The Blue Raiders are holding opponents to a .280 3-point percentage (28-100) over their last six games after limiting LA Tech to a 3-for-21 (.143) performance Saturday.
» Eli Lawrence enters Thursday's game with 925 career points. If he averages 6.8 points per game the rest of the way, he will reach the 1,000-point mark by the end of the regular season.
» Lenard 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.
» The Blue Raiders gained 19 spots in the NET rankings over the past week, jumping from No. 126 through Sunday, Jan. 15, to No. 107 as of Jan. 22.
Scouting the Owls
» After making its debut in the AP Poll at No. 24 a week ago, Florida Atlantic has risen to No. 21 and is 9-0 in C-USA.
» The Owls maintain the second-longest winning streak in the country at 18 games. Only No. 18 College of Charleston's 20-game winning streak is longer.
» FAU is one of just three one-loss teams remaining in the country, with No. 1 Purdue and No. 18 College of Charleston being the others.
» The Owls are one of the deepest teams in the nation, leading Division I in bench scoring at 37.7 points per game.
» FAU is third in C-USA in field goal percentage at 46.8%, while holding opponents to just 40% from the field, the second-best clip in the league.
» Vladislav Goldin leads the Owls and is ninth in the conference in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game.
Scouting the Panthers
» FIU's signature win of the season came on Jan. 7, when it took down UAB in overtime in Miami.
» The Panthers ended a three-game skid Saturday with a 77-72 win at UTSA.
» Sophomore guard Denver Jones leads the Panthers and is second in the league with 19.3 points per game. The New Market, Ala. native has at least 12 points in all but one C-USA tilt.
» Freshman guard Arturo Dean is FIU's second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. He's also the conference leader in steals per game with 2.4.
» FIU is third in C-USA in field goal percentage at 46.2%.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).
Both games will tip off at 6 p.m. CT. Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic will be shown on CBS Sports Network, while the FIU contest is available on ESPN+. Both games will be broadcast on 94.9 The Fan, 95.1 in Murfreesboro, while Saturday's contest will also air on WGNS 101.9 FM, 100.5 FM, and 1450 AM. GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network App will carry the digital audio.
Game 21: Middle Tennessee (13-7, 6-3 C-USA) at Florida Atlantic (19-1, 9-0 C-USA)
» Thursday, January 26, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena
» Boca Raton, FL
Game 22: Middle Tennessee (13-7, 6-3 C-USA) at FIU (9-11, 3-6 C-USA)
» Saturday, January 28, 2022 – 6:00 p.m. CT
» Ocean Bank Convocation Center
» Miami, FL
All-Time Against Florida Atlantic and FIU
» The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series with Florida Atlantic, 21-8. MTSU swept the season series over the Owls in 2021-22.
» Middle Tennessee also leads the all-time series over FIU, 33-11, having won three straight over the Panthers.
Blue Raider Notes
» Through January 23, Middle Tennessee is 18th in Division I with an average of 5.2 blocked shots per game.
» Thursday's game will be the Blue Raiders' first against a ranked team since taking on No. 17 Villanova on November 21, 2019. MTSU's lone win over a ranked team was its 2016 NCAA Tournament upset of No. 2 Michigan State.
» 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., is 27th in the country in blocked shots with 39 and 32nd in blocks per game with 1.95. He is fifth in career blocks at MTSU with 97.
» With 36 dunks on the year, Lenard is on pace to surpass his program record of 50 by the end of the regular season.
» DeAndre Dishman is one of just seven seventh-year players in Division I men's basketball.
» Dishman picked up his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
» The Blue Raiders are holding opponents to a .280 3-point percentage (28-100) over their last six games after limiting LA Tech to a 3-for-21 (.143) performance Saturday.
» Eli Lawrence enters Thursday's game with 925 career points. If he averages 6.8 points per game the rest of the way, he will reach the 1,000-point mark by the end of the regular season.
» Lenard 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.
» The Blue Raiders gained 19 spots in the NET rankings over the past week, jumping from No. 126 through Sunday, Jan. 15, to No. 107 as of Jan. 22.
Scouting the Owls
» After making its debut in the AP Poll at No. 24 a week ago, Florida Atlantic has risen to No. 21 and is 9-0 in C-USA.
» The Owls maintain the second-longest winning streak in the country at 18 games. Only No. 18 College of Charleston's 20-game winning streak is longer.
» FAU is one of just three one-loss teams remaining in the country, with No. 1 Purdue and No. 18 College of Charleston being the others.
» The Owls are one of the deepest teams in the nation, leading Division I in bench scoring at 37.7 points per game.
» FAU is third in C-USA in field goal percentage at 46.8%, while holding opponents to just 40% from the field, the second-best clip in the league.
» Vladislav Goldin leads the Owls and is ninth in the conference in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game.
Scouting the Panthers
» FIU's signature win of the season came on Jan. 7, when it took down UAB in overtime in Miami.
» The Panthers ended a three-game skid Saturday with a 77-72 win at UTSA.
» Sophomore guard Denver Jones leads the Panthers and is second in the league with 19.3 points per game. The New Market, Ala. native has at least 12 points in all but one C-USA tilt.
» Freshman guard Arturo Dean is FIU's second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. He's also the conference leader in steals per game with 2.4.
» FIU is third in C-USA in field goal percentage at 46.2%.
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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/ Men's Basketball
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