Second half outburst catapults Blue Raiders to CUSA Semifinals

Wednesday, March 13

Huntsville, Ala.

8 PM

Middle Tennessee

14-18,7-9CUSA

LA Tech

22-10,12-4CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Louisiana Tech

3/14/2024 12:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Jestin Porter had 18 second half points to lead MTSU past LA Tech on Wednesday.

By: Sam Douhgton, MT Athletics

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Middle Tennessee men's basketball gritted their way to the Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship semifinal on Wednesday night, riding a second-half comeback to a 70-67 win over LA Tech at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center.

The Blue Raiders (14-18) trailed by just five at halftime, 32-27, despite shooting just 7-for-24 from the floor in the game's first 20 minutes. Solid three-point shooting (35.7 percent as a team) buoyed the Blue Raiders, with five of MTSU's seven field goals coming beyond the arc. The Bulldogs (22-10) held the lead, however, after dominating on the boards (21-13) and shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.

MTSU was the aggressor from the jump out of halftime, tying the game before the under-16 timeout with an 11-6 advantage in the four-minute stretch to start. Jestin Porter, who was held scoreless in the first half, came alive for 18 points in the second half, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, including a 2-for-3 half from three. With smart shot selection of offense and tough defense forcing difficult Bulldog shots (LA Tech shot just 34.4 percent as a team in the second half), MTSU built a lead as large as eight-points with 9:02 to play.

The second seeded Bulldogs fought back, pulling within as close as one-point with 1:10 to play, but a stop on defense from an Elias King rebound put the senior forward on the line for two shots. King swished both and Justin Bufford shut down Isaiah Crawford on the final possession to claim the win.

Jared Coleman-Jones posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bufford just missed a double-double with seven points and eight rebounds, while holding the CUSA Player of the Year Crawford to 4-for-17 from the floor as his primary defender. Jacob Johnson held Tahlik Chavez to 5-for-17 from the field.

By the Numbers
19-for-22: MTSU's night at the charity stripe, outscoring the Bulldogs by seven points at the line. LA Tech shot 12-for-18 at the line.

18: Bench points for MTSU on Wednesday. Every bench player that checked in for MTSU scored at least four points, led by eight

4-for-7: MTSU's second half clip from the three-point line.

Blue Raider Notes

The Blue Raiders' last five CUSA Tournament games have either been decided by three or fewer points or gone to at least one overtime period.
Jared Coleman-Jones recorded his eighth double-double, all of which have come against Conference USA competition. He ties Nick King's 2017-18 campaign for the most double-doubles against CUSA opponents in one season.
MTSU improved to 12-5 in neutral site games over the past three seasons.
The Blue Raiders are now 10-1 when scoring 70 points or more.
MTSU advances to the CUSA semifinals for the third straight season.

Thoughts from Head Coach Nick McDevitt
"Really proud of our team. That was a heck of a win. LA Tech is really good. They are so balanced with their players on the offensive and defensive end. I thought we stayed locked in on the defensive end. Offensively, for the most part, we did a good job of taking care of the ball. They're a very good rebounding team, so it's hard to get offensive rebounds. I just thought we had a really good 'next play' mentality for the entire game. If you're too busy sulking and not thinking about the next play, all of a sudden you give up an easy one. I'm really proud of these too. JP was terrific in the second half and Jared had his hands full the whole night. They had to face their two best offensive players."

Player's Perspective – Jestin Porter
On his second-half scoring surge…
"I just told my team to stay with me. I knew it was going to come to me, which it always does. I'm never the type of guy to go play under my game like that, so I just let it come to me."

Up Next
MTSU will play in the CUSA Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon against the winner of Thursday night's game between third seeded Western Kentucky and sixth seeded New Mexico State. Friday's game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip on CBS Sports Network and the Blue Raider Radio Network.

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