Blue Raiders comeback bid falls just short in heartbreaking fashion against FAU in C-USA Semifinals

Friday, March 10

Frisco, Texas

11:30 AM

Middle Tennessee

-1914,119 CUSA

Florida Atlantic

-303,182 CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Matt Posey/MT Athletic Communications

3/10/2023 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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MTSU battled back from 16 points down to tie the game but just missed a chance to take the lead late

By: Sam Doughton, MT Athletics

FRISCO, Texas — Middle Tennessee men's basketball battled back, finding their shooting touch and defensive cohesion in the second half, storming back from 37-21 deficit late in the first half to tie the game with three minutes to play, but could not complete the comeback, falling to FAU 68-65 in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Ford Center at the Star.

The Blue Raiders (19-14) made no three-pointers in the first half while adjusting to Court A at the Star, but found their shooting stroke in the second half, where two threes from Elias King quickly got MTSU on a roll. The Owls (30-3) counter punched with several tough makes, but MTSU slowly climbed back into the game until it was tied 57-57 with 3:31 to play.

FAU made enough free throws to take a four-point lead late, but Justin Bufford drilled a three-pointer while being fouled to give MTSU a chance to tie with 13 seconds to play. The free throw missed, but MTSU deflected the rebound off FAU to get one last chance. DeAndre Dishman got a clean look, but it just missed, and FAU got the rebound off a swat on the putback, making the free throws to ice the game.

Dishman led a balanced MTSU attack with 17 points, leading the team with 11 rebounds as his post-up play sparked the comeback attempt. Elias King scored 13 points, coming alive from three in the second half with a trio of triples, while also hauling in six rebounds. Eli Lawrence, playing through an ankle injury, scored eight points off the bench.

By the Numbers

17-11: In what might be his final game in as a Blue Raider, DeAndre Dishman posted his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

21: Second Chance Points for the Blue Raiders, who hauled in 15 offensive rebounds against the Owls.

6: Points off of turnovers for MTSU. Despite turning over FAU 11 times while only turning it over just eight times as a team, MTSU managed to score three fewer points off turnovers than the Owls (9).

Blue Raider Notes

Dishman is the first Blue Raider with a double-double in the Conference USA Championship since Karl Gamble in 2019 against UAB.
MTSU's bench outscored Florida Atlantic's 16-12. The Owls entered the game with the nation's highest-scoring reserve unit.
MTSU falls to 12-7 all-time in C-USA Championship games.
The Blue Raiders' last four C-USA Championship games have been decided by a total of 15 points.
MTSU has come back to tie or take the lead after trailing by 16 or more five times this season.

Thoughts from Head Coach Nick McDevitt

"I think our team showed a lot of toughness and grit and fight again this morning and this afternoon. Last night, had a lot of fight and some of the breaks went our way. The big shots, the timely shots, we made them and we advanced. Tonight, I thought we did a lot of really good things, gave ourselves a chance to win.

"You're battling through a lot of adversity. You've got a lot of guys playing hurt, the ones we know about and the ones that some don't know about that are playing through some pain. To go out there and give yourself a chance to win through that, through some foul trouble, through being down double digits. I just was really proud of their fight, and how hard they played and how together they played. There at the end, sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way."

Up Next

Middle Tennessee has been invited to post-season play, but will await a decision on accepting the invitation until a later date, Nick McDevitt explained.

"We've got some guys that have been banged up for weeks now," McDevitt said. "We're certainly honored and flattered to be invited to postseason play. Obviously, you've had to have a good four months to be invited to do something like that. But we really do need to evaluate where our players are at this point in the year."

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