Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
COLUMN: Celebrating a 7-0 Saturday
2/25/2024 7:41:00 PM | Baseball, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Softball, Women's Basketball
MTSU did not lose in seven tries on Saturday. The magic of three of those wins in the mid-state? They’ll be hard to forget.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — As the inbound pass sailed comfortably into Jestin Porter's hands, floating almost like the sitting duck interceptions that give you a pit your stomach the instant they're thrown during football season, the pit I had in my stomach finally went away.
The Blue Raiders had outplayed, out hustled, and flat out out-cared Western Kentucky nearly all night in the Murphy Center, and had been rewarded with a nail-biting, white knuckled 74-72 win. An evenly matched win, in efficiency, in rebounds, in turnovers. A win not without controversy, courtesy of a debatable call of a jump ball when WKU lost control of their final shot attempt and that attempt ended up in Justin Bufford's, and at least one Hilltopper's, hands.
But none of that mattered right after the buzzer. The active, vibrant MTSU crowd, that had made their presence felt all night, could cheer in relief. The players and coaches, wound up from the tension of both Senior Night and the rivalry game, as well as a season where nothing has come easy, got to celebrate with their friends and family on the court.
"Really proud of our team," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said postgame. "We talked about that at halftime, how the margin is thin, and we just had to toughen up. We needed to be able to play physical at the basket, get physical, tough rebounds."
I felt that sense of relief too. As my Twitter friend Brian Wilmer noted on X, the Tennessee Waltz always sounds better after a win over Western Kentucky. That song from the Band of Blue creates a swell in me even after the Lady Raiders have stomped a team from the Mountain Time Zone by 40 points, but it particularly caught in my emotions as I saw McDevitt and Associate Head Coach Wes Long celebrate with their kids, as I saw Blue Raider fans high-fiving one another on their way out to the Greenland parking lot.
It's days like Saturday that remind you why college athletics are worth it. And the Men's Basketball win was only one small part of that.
--
The day for MTSU athletics started at 11 a.m. CT, when the Lady Raiders tipped off their WKU game 100 miles or so north of Murfreesboro in Bowling Green. I watched on from the Reese Smith Jr. Field press box, prepping for the Blue Raider Baseball showdown with Miami (OH) at 2 p.m.
Two things were clear from the jump in Saturday's women's basketball contest: The Lady Raiders' defense can travel anywhere in the country and the Lady Raider fan base can travel anywhere in the country but show up in particularly strong numbers in Bowling Green.
On site observers in Diddle Arena said that MTSU Blue made up at least half, if not more, of the announced 2,015 in attendance on Saturday morning. On the ESPNU broadcast, they came through loud and clear as MTSU built up a healthy lead early, holding the Lady Toppers to just four points in the first quarter. And they stayed around long after MTSU triumphed 59-41, with Associate Head Coach Matt Insell sharing the moment his team celebrated with the fans that came along for the ride.
It was a tight performance, at times, for the Lady Raiders, who only shot 28.6 percent from beyond the arc and under 70 percent from the free throw line. But Head Coach Rick Insell understood why.
"We were playing for a ring," the veteran coach relayed to Voice of the Lady Raiders Dick Palmer postgame.
With the win, MTSU clinched back-to-back CUSA Regular Season Championships and can clinch an outright CUSA title with just one win in their final three games. The bar, of course, is set much higher than that, given the Lady Raiders' 13-0 start to CUSA play this season. But there are few feelings sweeter than winning a conference title on your biggest rival's home court, particularly as dominantly as MTSU did on Saturday.
---
Just over 100 miles away and a few hours later, Middle Tennessee baseball was experiencing a different emotion college sports can evoke: shock and awe. After trailing most of the afternoon to the Redhawks, MTSU had cut the lead to 3-1 heading into their final six outs of the day in the bottom of the eighth.
"The good thing we did do was made enough pitches and got out of a few jams to keep the game at 3-0 to be able to give ourselves a chance," Head Coach Jerry Meyers said. "We're trying to play hard all the time, no matter if it's up or down. If we're down three with nine outs to go, we have to make something happen."
Thankfully for this staff writer turned scorekeeper, the Blue Raiders only needed three outs.
MTSU started the frame with two singles, then scored a run on a steal resulting in an overthrow for the Blue Raiders' second run. A sac bunt moved the runner to third, and a groundout with the infield in was out number two, but a passed ball scored the tying run, opening up the flood gates for the Blue Raiders and the nightmare for the Redhawks.
Three straight MTSU walks loaded the bases, only for a wild pitch in the next at-bat to plate the go-ahead run. The Redhawks switched pitchers, but the reliever was just as wild, scoring another Blue Raider on a throw to the backstop and hitting the batter in the box to prolong the inning. Two hits and some smart base running later, it was a seven-spot given up by Miami and a win under MTSU's belt in the way only a college baseball game can make it happen.
---
Away from Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders were dominant as well. Softball finally found its groove at The Spring Games, picking up wins against St. Bonaventure and Le Moyne to officially start a win streak. Men's Tennis found ways to win at the Blue-Gray Championships, knocking off a ranked Boise State team before sweeping old CUSA foe Rice to bounce back from a defeat to Auburn to start the tournament.
It was the kind of Saturday that made you feel like Nick McDevitt did at the second half under-12 media timeout, where he marched to all four corners of the Glass House to get loud.
Or like the whole Glass House did when Chris Loofe swatted away his third block of the night late in the second half.
"It was so much fun just hearing the crowd," Justin Bufford said. "Usually, I'm locked into the game, but when [Chris Loofe] blocked that shot, I really heard everybody scream, it made me say 'Dang, it's really loud in here right now.'"
It was loud, JB, in Murfreesboro, in Montgomery, Alabama, in Madeira Beach, Florida and, certainly, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A 7-0 Saturday can do that to the fan base. With just a couple more weekends of crossover season ahead of us, let's hope we can do it a few more times.
The Blue Raiders had outplayed, out hustled, and flat out out-cared Western Kentucky nearly all night in the Murphy Center, and had been rewarded with a nail-biting, white knuckled 74-72 win. An evenly matched win, in efficiency, in rebounds, in turnovers. A win not without controversy, courtesy of a debatable call of a jump ball when WKU lost control of their final shot attempt and that attempt ended up in Justin Bufford's, and at least one Hilltopper's, hands.
But none of that mattered right after the buzzer. The active, vibrant MTSU crowd, that had made their presence felt all night, could cheer in relief. The players and coaches, wound up from the tension of both Senior Night and the rivalry game, as well as a season where nothing has come easy, got to celebrate with their friends and family on the court.
"Really proud of our team," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said postgame. "We talked about that at halftime, how the margin is thin, and we just had to toughen up. We needed to be able to play physical at the basket, get physical, tough rebounds."
I felt that sense of relief too. As my Twitter friend Brian Wilmer noted on X, the Tennessee Waltz always sounds better after a win over Western Kentucky. That song from the Band of Blue creates a swell in me even after the Lady Raiders have stomped a team from the Mountain Time Zone by 40 points, but it particularly caught in my emotions as I saw McDevitt and Associate Head Coach Wes Long celebrate with their kids, as I saw Blue Raider fans high-fiving one another on their way out to the Greenland parking lot.
It's days like Saturday that remind you why college athletics are worth it. And the Men's Basketball win was only one small part of that.
--
The day for MTSU athletics started at 11 a.m. CT, when the Lady Raiders tipped off their WKU game 100 miles or so north of Murfreesboro in Bowling Green. I watched on from the Reese Smith Jr. Field press box, prepping for the Blue Raider Baseball showdown with Miami (OH) at 2 p.m.
Two things were clear from the jump in Saturday's women's basketball contest: The Lady Raiders' defense can travel anywhere in the country and the Lady Raider fan base can travel anywhere in the country but show up in particularly strong numbers in Bowling Green.
On site observers in Diddle Arena said that MTSU Blue made up at least half, if not more, of the announced 2,015 in attendance on Saturday morning. On the ESPNU broadcast, they came through loud and clear as MTSU built up a healthy lead early, holding the Lady Toppers to just four points in the first quarter. And they stayed around long after MTSU triumphed 59-41, with Associate Head Coach Matt Insell sharing the moment his team celebrated with the fans that came along for the ride.
Great Team Road Win #BlueOut #ProudCoach #BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/zhlgwheaWA
— Matt Insell (@minsell) February 24, 2024
It was a tight performance, at times, for the Lady Raiders, who only shot 28.6 percent from beyond the arc and under 70 percent from the free throw line. But Head Coach Rick Insell understood why.
"We were playing for a ring," the veteran coach relayed to Voice of the Lady Raiders Dick Palmer postgame.
Job's not finished! 😤#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/OkSzvx8i7y
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) February 24, 2024
With the win, MTSU clinched back-to-back CUSA Regular Season Championships and can clinch an outright CUSA title with just one win in their final three games. The bar, of course, is set much higher than that, given the Lady Raiders' 13-0 start to CUSA play this season. But there are few feelings sweeter than winning a conference title on your biggest rival's home court, particularly as dominantly as MTSU did on Saturday.
---
Just over 100 miles away and a few hours later, Middle Tennessee baseball was experiencing a different emotion college sports can evoke: shock and awe. After trailing most of the afternoon to the Redhawks, MTSU had cut the lead to 3-1 heading into their final six outs of the day in the bottom of the eighth.
"The good thing we did do was made enough pitches and got out of a few jams to keep the game at 3-0 to be able to give ourselves a chance," Head Coach Jerry Meyers said. "We're trying to play hard all the time, no matter if it's up or down. If we're down three with nine outs to go, we have to make something happen."
Thankfully for this staff writer turned scorekeeper, the Blue Raiders only needed three outs.
MTSU started the frame with two singles, then scored a run on a steal resulting in an overthrow for the Blue Raiders' second run. A sac bunt moved the runner to third, and a groundout with the infield in was out number two, but a passed ball scored the tying run, opening up the flood gates for the Blue Raiders and the nightmare for the Redhawks.
Three straight MTSU walks loaded the bases, only for a wild pitch in the next at-bat to plate the go-ahead run. The Redhawks switched pitchers, but the reliever was just as wild, scoring another Blue Raider on a throw to the backstop and hitting the batter in the box to prolong the inning. Two hits and some smart base running later, it was a seven-spot given up by Miami and a win under MTSU's belt in the way only a college baseball game can make it happen.
---
Away from Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders were dominant as well. Softball finally found its groove at The Spring Games, picking up wins against St. Bonaventure and Le Moyne to officially start a win streak. Men's Tennis found ways to win at the Blue-Gray Championships, knocking off a ranked Boise State team before sweeping old CUSA foe Rice to bounce back from a defeat to Auburn to start the tournament.
It was the kind of Saturday that made you feel like Nick McDevitt did at the second half under-12 media timeout, where he marched to all four corners of the Glass House to get loud.
#Mood pic.twitter.com/OXfiE744k1
— Chip Walters (@ChooseChip) February 25, 2024
Or like the whole Glass House did when Chris Loofe swatted away his third block of the night late in the second half.
Block No. 3⃣ for @cwloofe_08, which ties his season best❗️@MT_MBB | #NoLimitsOnUs pic.twitter.com/RjRSeIYmhU
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) February 25, 2024
"It was so much fun just hearing the crowd," Justin Bufford said. "Usually, I'm locked into the game, but when [Chris Loofe] blocked that shot, I really heard everybody scream, it made me say 'Dang, it's really loud in here right now.'"
It was loud, JB, in Murfreesboro, in Montgomery, Alabama, in Madeira Beach, Florida and, certainly, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A 7-0 Saturday can do that to the fan base. With just a couple more weekends of crossover season ahead of us, let's hope we can do it a few more times.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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