Blue Raiders prepped to host WKU Saturday

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The 100 Miles of Hate rivalry makes its return to the Glass House Saturday, when WKU (11-6, 2-2 CUSA) makes the journey to Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Middle Tennessee men's basketball program (12-5, 3-1) will face off against its rivals with a 6 p.m. tip and the contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Network.

Series History
The series against Western Kentucky is one of the longest played in MT history, with Saturday being the 148th all-time meeting between the two.
Western leads the all-time series 100-47, though the Blue Raiders have won four of the last seven contests.
The Hilltoppers won the last matchup between the schools in the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship last season, 85-54.

Blue Raider Notes
• For the first time this season and third time in his career, Jestin Porter was named CUSA Player of the Week after averaging 28.0 points per game in the first home weekend of league play. The honor marks the second Blue Raider this season to receive the award.
• With the win over Jax State Saturday, head coach Nick McDevitt moved into a tie for fourth place in program history with 49 conference wins, a rank he shares with former head coach Randy Wiel.
• The Blue Raiders rank fifth in the country in three-point percentage defense, only allowing opponents to score on 27.7 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.
• Averaging 3.59 offensive rebounds per game, Essam Mostafa ranks 14th in the nation and first in the conference.
• In the latest NCAA NET rankings, Middle Tennessee continues to climb, currently sitting at 101, the highest mark for the team this season. The team is the second-highest CUSA team in the NET rankings.
• MTSU charts 36th in the nation with 39.47 rebounds per game.
• When playing on a Saturday, the Blue Raiders are 2-3. When playing in January, they are 3-1 in this season.
• Torey Alston continues to settle into his starting role while Kamari Lands remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The redshirt-freshman picked up nine rebounds against Kennesaw State and eight against Jax State, while notching seven and 11 points in the contests, respectively.
• The Blue Raiders have outscored opponents 1335-1209 in the opening 17 games of the 2024-25 campaign, as they are off to their best start in the Nick McDevitt era.
• Middle Tennessee has scored at least 40 of its points in the paint in nine of the 17 games played thus far, earning 50 in three contests.
• Pulling in an average of 12.47 offensive boards per contest, the Blue Raiders sit second in the conference.

Hilltopper Notes
• Western Kentucky ranks ninth in the nation in defensive rebounding with 29.18 per contest.
• Don McHenry leads the Tops and ranks sixth in Conference USA for scoring, averaging 16.9 points per contest. His 33 steals are the second most in the league and the 59th most in the nation.
• Tyrone Marshall Jr. leads WKU and charts second in the league with 5.76 defensive boards per contest while also leading the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.
• WKU is currently third in the nation in adjusted tempo, averaging 74.2 possessions per 40 minutes.
• The Hilltoppers are coming off an 85-69 win over Kennesaw State last Saturday, though they fell to Jax State 73-67 last Thursday at home.

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Torey Alston

Kamari Lands

Essam Mostafa

Jestin Porter

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