Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
On exam week, tough lessons learned for Middle Tennessee Basketball in the Music City
12/8/2024 7:37:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
Both Men’s and Women’s Basketball had chances to beat Belmont on Saturday but fell short to the Bruins on the road.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jlynn Counter had one final shot to get to 25 points in the second half on Saturday against Belmont, to get the Blue Raiders into a tie at 82 all when the buzzer sounded on a last second three.
But when his sixth three-point attempt only found the backboard on Saturday afternoon, falling just short in Middle Tennessee's men's basketball furious comeback against the Bruins, it was the capper to a Saturday in the Music City that taught both MTSU men's basketball and women's basketball tough lessons in the non-conference slate.
"We're not going to quit, no matter who we're playing," Counter said. "(The) first 25 minutes, 20 minutes (in the first half) and then five minutes in the second half, they went out there and kicked our tail. But that second half, we played our brand of basketball."
The Blue Raiders were indeed sharp in the second half, winning the second frame 49-44 after trailing by eight at halftime. Counter and Jestin Porter combined for 37 of those 49 second half points to will their team back into a game they trailed by as many as 18, after the Bruins went on a 19-2 run between the 3:59 mark of the first half, when MTSU took a 28-25 lead on a Chris Loof dunk, and the 18:16 mark of the second half. Middle Tennessee was able to cut the Bruin advantage to one point five times in the closing minutes, but never held the ball with the chance to take the lead after Belmont countered with buckets of their own each time.
"I was proud of our group and our fight to come back; I thought we showed a lot of resilience," head coach Nick McDevitt said. "I thought the difference in the game was more opportunities to score the ball. They beat us on the offensive glass, and we had too many turnovers."
Indeed, the Bruins finished the afternoon with 19 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second chance points, compared to 12 offensive boards for 14 second chance points for the Blue Raiders. Defensively, Belmont forced 14 MTSU turnovers (11 of which came on Bruin steals), pushing the pace to score 15 points off those Blue Raider miscues.
The ultimate impact on the season of a three-point loss on the road in early December against a quality opponent like Belmont is minimal, of course. NET metrics and other similar rankings are likely to reward MTSU for the close margin (MTSU's KenPom spot only dropped three slots after Saturday's game). But it did provide crucial lessons for the men ahead of the rest of the December slate, to come after this week's exams: had Belmont's peak lead been 10, even 12, instead of 18, the Blue Raiders likely leave Nashville with a win.
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The story of Middle Tennessee women's basketball's 65-52 loss to Belmont in the opener of the doubleheader is similar, though perhaps not quite as extreme. Rick Insell's squad was also beaten on the offensive glass (10-7, in both rebounds and second chance points) and turned the ball over 14 times to Belmont's 11 (resulting in a 12-8 advantage in points off turnovers for the Bruins). The Blue Raiders also allowed the Bruins to build a big early lead, 13 points early in the second quarter, but then chipped away to give themselves a chance late in the contest, trailing by just two late in the third quarter and one early in the fourth.
Give Belmont credit, Insell said, for their players hitting shots when they needed to. And give the Blue Raiders credit for staying in it. But there was much that the veteran head coach will want to correct before MTSU heads west after exams late this week.
"We played hard at times, but in games like this, you can't play hard at times," Insell said. "You've got to play tough defense all the time. We didn't do that."
There were some anomalies that contributed to the loss, like Elina Arike and Anastasiia Boldyreva both combining to shoot 2-for-14 inside the three-point line. Belmont guarded both players tightly, but there were several shots off the glass that both players have typically made for MTSU. That's the type of shooting that will even out over the course of a season.
Most frustrating for Insell, however, was how many threes MTSU let up against a club that drained 13-of-24 attempts beyond the arc against the Blue Raiders a season ago. MTSU was slightly better defensively on that front on Saturday, limiting the Bruins to 11-for-27 beyond the arc, but left forward Kendal Cheesman, who went 5-for-7 from three in last year's game, open way too often, particularly early in the game. The Bruin finished the night 6-for-11 for three, including a back breaker the doubled Belmont's lead from three to six with 3:16 to play.
The senior forward had started just two of Belmont's eight games prior to Saturday, never playing more than 22 minutes in a contest this season. She played for 30 minutes against MTSU.
"There's a reason they started her, because they knew we weren't going to get out there and guard that," Insell said. "Right off the bat, she hit a three very first shot. We didn't get into our scouting report."
With as much emphasis as Insell and his staff put on the pregame scout, there will certainly be a fine attention to detail ahead of MTSU's neutral site matchup with Kansas State on December 14.
But when his sixth three-point attempt only found the backboard on Saturday afternoon, falling just short in Middle Tennessee's men's basketball furious comeback against the Bruins, it was the capper to a Saturday in the Music City that taught both MTSU men's basketball and women's basketball tough lessons in the non-conference slate.
"We're not going to quit, no matter who we're playing," Counter said. "(The) first 25 minutes, 20 minutes (in the first half) and then five minutes in the second half, they went out there and kicked our tail. But that second half, we played our brand of basketball."
The Blue Raiders were indeed sharp in the second half, winning the second frame 49-44 after trailing by eight at halftime. Counter and Jestin Porter combined for 37 of those 49 second half points to will their team back into a game they trailed by as many as 18, after the Bruins went on a 19-2 run between the 3:59 mark of the first half, when MTSU took a 28-25 lead on a Chris Loof dunk, and the 18:16 mark of the second half. Middle Tennessee was able to cut the Bruin advantage to one point five times in the closing minutes, but never held the ball with the chance to take the lead after Belmont countered with buckets of their own each time.
"I was proud of our group and our fight to come back; I thought we showed a lot of resilience," head coach Nick McDevitt said. "I thought the difference in the game was more opportunities to score the ball. They beat us on the offensive glass, and we had too many turnovers."
Indeed, the Bruins finished the afternoon with 19 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second chance points, compared to 12 offensive boards for 14 second chance points for the Blue Raiders. Defensively, Belmont forced 14 MTSU turnovers (11 of which came on Bruin steals), pushing the pace to score 15 points off those Blue Raider miscues.
The ultimate impact on the season of a three-point loss on the road in early December against a quality opponent like Belmont is minimal, of course. NET metrics and other similar rankings are likely to reward MTSU for the close margin (MTSU's KenPom spot only dropped three slots after Saturday's game). But it did provide crucial lessons for the men ahead of the rest of the December slate, to come after this week's exams: had Belmont's peak lead been 10, even 12, instead of 18, the Blue Raiders likely leave Nashville with a win.
---
The story of Middle Tennessee women's basketball's 65-52 loss to Belmont in the opener of the doubleheader is similar, though perhaps not quite as extreme. Rick Insell's squad was also beaten on the offensive glass (10-7, in both rebounds and second chance points) and turned the ball over 14 times to Belmont's 11 (resulting in a 12-8 advantage in points off turnovers for the Bruins). The Blue Raiders also allowed the Bruins to build a big early lead, 13 points early in the second quarter, but then chipped away to give themselves a chance late in the contest, trailing by just two late in the third quarter and one early in the fourth.
Give Belmont credit, Insell said, for their players hitting shots when they needed to. And give the Blue Raiders credit for staying in it. But there was much that the veteran head coach will want to correct before MTSU heads west after exams late this week.
"We played hard at times, but in games like this, you can't play hard at times," Insell said. "You've got to play tough defense all the time. We didn't do that."
There were some anomalies that contributed to the loss, like Elina Arike and Anastasiia Boldyreva both combining to shoot 2-for-14 inside the three-point line. Belmont guarded both players tightly, but there were several shots off the glass that both players have typically made for MTSU. That's the type of shooting that will even out over the course of a season.
Most frustrating for Insell, however, was how many threes MTSU let up against a club that drained 13-of-24 attempts beyond the arc against the Blue Raiders a season ago. MTSU was slightly better defensively on that front on Saturday, limiting the Bruins to 11-for-27 beyond the arc, but left forward Kendal Cheesman, who went 5-for-7 from three in last year's game, open way too often, particularly early in the game. The Bruin finished the night 6-for-11 for three, including a back breaker the doubled Belmont's lead from three to six with 3:16 to play.
The senior forward had started just two of Belmont's eight games prior to Saturday, never playing more than 22 minutes in a contest this season. She played for 30 minutes against MTSU.
"There's a reason they started her, because they knew we weren't going to get out there and guard that," Insell said. "Right off the bat, she hit a three very first shot. We didn't get into our scouting report."
With as much emphasis as Insell and his staff put on the pregame scout, there will certainly be a fine attention to detail ahead of MTSU's neutral site matchup with Kansas State on December 14.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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