PREVIEW: Blue Raiders awaiting CUSA semifinal opponent

CUSA Semifinal \| Friday, March 13 \| 2:00 p.m. \| Propst Arena \| Huntsville, Ala.

	#7 MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS 14-18, 7-9 CUSA	vs.	#3 WKU/#6 NM STATE

WATCH: CBS SPORTS NETWORK \| STATS: LINK \| RADIO: WGNS/CLASSIC HITS 93.3/95.1 (LINK) \| NOTES: LINK

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Middle Tennessee men's basketball has advanced to Friday's Conference USA semifinal round and will take on the winner of Thursday night's game between No. 3 seed Western Kentucky and No. 6 seed New Mexico State. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and the Blue Raider Radio Network.

MTSU, the No. 7 seed, is coming off a 70-67 victory over No. 2 seed LA Tech on Wednesday. Jestin Porter led the Blue Raiders with 18 points, all after halftime, while Jared Coleman-Jones added his eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Four Blue Raiders earned All-Conference recognition Monday, when the league put out its postseason awards: Jestin Porter (2nd Team All-Conference), Jared Coleman-Jones (3rd Team), Chris Loofe (All-Freshman Team) and Elias King (Honorable Mention).

Blue Raider Notes
» Middle Tennessee over its last 48 home games has limited opponents to 60.7 points per game in regulation, having gone 40-8 in that stretch. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Blue Raiders are allowing 63.1 regulation ppg in neutral site games and 75.9 on the road.
» Jestin Porter averaged 17.0 points per game in conference play. He set CUSA and MTSU records by going 8-for-8 from 3-point range on Feb. 17 vs. UTEP. His 41 points are tied for the third-highest single-game total in program history. He was named CUSA Player of the Week, TSWA Player of the Week and Oscar Robertson Trophy National Player of the Week after averaging 33.5 points per game against New Mexico State and UTEP.
» Jared Coleman-Jones had seven double-doubles in league games, one shy of Nick King's mark of eight in 2017-18 for the most by a Blue Raider in CUSA action. The Jacksonville, Fla., native averaged 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds in CUSA play and is 11-for-21 (.524) from 3-point range over his last seven games.
» The Blue Raiders are shooting .799 (155-194) from the free throw line over their last eight games, compared to a mark of .663 over their first 24 games. Coleman-Jones is 36-for-42 (.857) during that span.
» Elias King this season has moved into ninth in MTSU history with 150 career threes.
» Justin Bufford is eighth in MTSU history with 74 career blocked shots, having blocked 24 this year. He has blocked six shots over his last five games.

Scouting the Hilltoppers
» WKU secured the No. 3 seed in the CUSA Tournament with an 8-8 conference record.
» Don McHenry was named First Team All-Conference, averaging 15.2 points per game. He averaged 16.5 points per game against the Blue Raiders in two matchups this year, shooting 12-for-24 from the floor and 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
» Rodney Howard earned Sixth Man of the Year recognition, averaging 10.0 points and 4.8 rebounds, mostly in a bench role.

Scouting the Aggies
» NMSU was one of four teams to finish the season with a 7-9 conference record, ending up with the No. 6 seed after the league's tiebreak procedures.
» Femi Odukale averaged nearly a double-double in two games against MTSU in the regular season with 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest.
» The Aggies have been outscored by 4.3 points per game, the worst mark in CUSA.

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

Justin Bufford

Jared Coleman-Jones

Elias King

Chris Loofe

Jestin Porter

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