Blue Raiders take on Flames for first time

Thursday, Feb. 8 \| 6:00 p.m. \| Liberty Arena \| Lynchburg, VA

	MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS 8-14, 2-5 CUSA	at	LIBERTY FLAMES 14-9, 3-5 CUSA

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: LINK \| RADIO: CLASSIC HITS 93.3/95.1 (LINK) \| NOTES: LINK \| HISTORY: FIRST MATCHUP

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The first meeting between Middle Tennessee and Liberty in men's basketball takes place at 6 p.m. CT Thursday at Liberty Arena in a Conference USA clash. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on Classic Hits 93.3/95.1, GoBlueRaiders.com and the Varsity Network.

The Blue Raiders saw a two-game win streak come to an end Saturday in an 88-65 loss at Western Kentucky. Jalen Jordan led the Blue Raiders with a season-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.

All-Time Against Liberty
» This is the first meeting between the two teams.

Blue Raider Notes
» MTSU over its last 44 home games has limited opponents to 60.1 points per game in regulation, having gone 36-8 in that stretch. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Blue Raiders allow 62.7 regulation ppg in neutral site games and 75.3 on the road.
» Jestin Porter is averaging 19.6 points per game in Conference USA play, including a career-best 30 points on 18 shots against Jacksonville State.
» Jared Coleman-Jones is averaging 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 blocks per game in league action. His seven-rebound performance against Sam Houston was his fewest in a CUSA game this year.
» Porter's six blocked shots are most in Conference USA among players 6'1" or shorter.
» Coleman-Jones is the only player in CUSA leading his team in blocks, rebounds and assists. He is also the only player in the top 25 in assists per game taller than 6'7".
» Chris Loofe has been named the CUSA Freshman of the Week four times after earning the honor again on January 1. He is 10th in the conference with 0.9 blocked shots per game.

Scouting the Flames
» After tying with the Blue Raiders for first in the CUSA preseason poll, the Flames are 3-5 in CUSA play.
» The Flames have won just three of their last nine games against Division I opponents.
» Kyle Rode is eighth in CUSA with 13.3 points per game.
» At an average height of 74.7 inches, Liberty is the second-shortest team in the country, per KenPom.

Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball on social media on Facebook //MTMensBasketball, Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (@mt_mbb).

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jared Coleman-Jones

Jalen Jordan

Chris Loofe

Jestin Porter

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