Middle Tennessee drops road contest at North Texas

Thursday, March 2

Denton, Texas

7 PM

Middle Tennessee

-1812,118 CUSA

North Texas

-246,154 CUSA

Middle Tenn.

North Texas

3/2/2023 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Thomas Donley, MT Athletics

DENTON, Texas — Middle Tennessee men's basketball fell 64-50 at North Texas on Thursday in the penultimate game of the regular season. Camryn Weston led the Blue Raiders with 12 points in a defensive battle.

The Blue Raiders (18-12, 11-8 Conference USA) shot well in the first half, going 6-for-11 from 3-point range and led for more than 17-and-a-half minutes. The Mean Green (24-6, 15-4) took a three-point lead into the locker room after turning nine MTSU turnovers into 12 points and converting four offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points. Grant McCasland's team was also 13-for-14 from the free throw line in the opening period.

Middle Tennessee struggled to keep up in the second half, going cold from the floor as the Mean Green earned 16 trips to the charity stripe, making 12. The Blue Raiders were 1-for-2 from the free throw line after halftime. Each team made nine field goal attempts and one 3-pointer in the second half, while the Blue Raiders forced more turnovers. The difference came at the free throw line, as the home team outscored the visitors by 11 over the final 20 minutes.

Weston added four rebounds, an assist and two steals to go along with his team-high point total. DeAndre Dishman's six rebounds were the most by a Blue Raider. Elias King led MTSU with three assists.

By the Numbers

23: The difference in free throw attempts on the night. Seven of North Texas' 15 personal fouls were called on the offensive side of the ball.

.583: Eli Lawrence, Camryn Weston and Elias King combined to go 7-for-12 (.583) from 3-point range Thursday night.

4: Four Blue Raiders were whistled for four personal fouls apiece. No Mean Green player had more than three.

Blue Raider Notes

The Blue Raiders are officially locked into the No. 4 seed in the C-USA Championship and will play its quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. Thursday on Court B at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
King made his first career start Thursday.
Jared Coleman-Jones equaled his season high with nine points.
North Texas' Tylor Perry led all players with 19 points, going 2-for-10 from the floor and 14-for-14 from the free throw line.

Thoughts from Head Coach Nick McDevitt

"We did a lot of things really well in the first half. We could have been in the locker room with a lead… We talked about offensive rebounds and turnovers. We had three more turnovers and two fewer offensive rebounds in the first half and that's where a majority of their points [came from]… You can talk about the free throw attempt discrepancy, but I thought a lot of it was just how they were playing around the rim. They're really disciplined when they touch the paint with the ball. They play off two feet, show you the ball, and you have to have just as good foot discipline and stay on the ground, guard the ball without fouling."

Up Next

Middle Tennessee concludes the regular season at UTEP on Saturday. Tipoff from Don Haskins Arena is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Radio Network.

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