Veterans Mostafa and Porter lead Middle Tennessee to 84-79 win over Kennesaw State

Thursday, January 9

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

11-5,2-1CUSA

Kennesaw State

9-6,1-1CUSA

Kennesaw St.

Middle Tenn.

1/9/2025 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book Photo Gallery

By: Anthony Fiorella

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — To compete in Conference USA, you must be able to string together consistent performances on a nightly basis. For Middle Tennessee (11-5, 2-1 CUSA), arguably the two best such examples of consistency on a nightly basis have been graduate transfer big man Essam Mostafa and senior Jestin Porter. That consistency was rewarded in a big way tonight as Mostafa tallied a season-high 22 points and had nine rebounds while Porter finished with a season-high 27 points in the Blue Raiders 84-79 win over the Kennesaw State Owls (9-6, 1-1 CUSA).

Mostafa had the hot hand to start the night. The grad transfer was 8-of-11 from the field in the first half for 18 total points and two rebounds. It was a tightly contested first half, however, as the Blue Raiders clung to a three-point lead at the under eight-minute media timeout, only three players had scored for the Blue Raiders to that point: Mostafa (12 points), Porter (12 points) and Torey Alston (four points). With a 28-25 advantage at that point, Middle Tennessee closed out the half trading blows with the Owls to take a 43-39 lead into the locker room.

Both teams had a good first half, offensively, as Kennesaw State shot 47 percent from the field while Middle Tennessee finished at 55 percent shooting. Mostafa's 18 points led all scorers, while Jestin Porter finished the half with 14 points and an assist for the Blue Raiders and forward Torey Alston contributed four points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Adrian Wooley led Kennesaw State with 11 points and had three rebounds.

The Blue Raiders outscored Kennesaw State 20-13 through the first nine minutes of the second half to take the largest lead of the game for either team of nine points into the media timeout near the 11 -minute mark. The Blue Raiders got a jolt with a pair of Justin Bufford threes to go with a three-pointer from Tre Green and a pair of thunderous dunks from forwards Alston and Chris Loofe to home crowd on its feet.

Kennesaw State refused to go away quietly, however as one of its three talented freshmen, Wooley, got the Owls to back within four points at 77-73 with three minutes left in the game. Wooley finished the game as the leading scorer for the Owls, gathering 24 points and six rebounds.

While it was Mostafa that had the hot hand in the first half, it was the slick-shooting Porter that led the Blue Raiders down the stretch. The Houston, Texas, native's 13 second-half points were paramount in a half in which both teams were once again close to even offensively. Perhaps the biggest basket of the night for Middle Tennessee came with 2:20 to go, as Green hit his third three-pointer in as many tries to put the Blue Raiders up 80-73, an advantage good enough for them to hold on until the clock hit all zeroes.

While Mostafa and Porter led the charge for MTSU, Green's nine points on a perfect night from beyond the arc and Torey Alston's nine rebounds were integral in helping Middle Tennessee gain a narrow advantage on the boards and from beyond the arc. MTSU finished with 19 assists on 30 baskets, led by Jlynn Counter who had six assists. Camryn Weston contributed four assists off the bench. Bufford finished with six points and had three rebounds with a team-high +11 rating.

By the Numbers:
7: With tonight's win, the Blue Raiders improve to 7-0 all-time against Kennesaw State.
1000- With his first-made basket tonight, Jlynn Counter reached the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Counter exited tonight's contest with 1,004 career points.
6: With a block in tonight's game, Justin Bufford moves into sole possession of sixth all-time in program history in blocks. The Alabama native finished the night with 82 blocks in his career, thus far.
27: Season-high in points for Jestin Porter.
22: Season-high in points for Essam Mostafa.

Player's Perspective: senior guard Jestin Porter
"I'm really trying to trust the work," Porter said. "After (getting back from Liberty), I immediately got back in the gym to find my spots and hit shots, consistently. We got (Mostafa) going early, and we wanted to keep feeding him, and it helped us. For me, I know teams are going to guard me differently to take me out of the game. I knew for today, I had to get to the mid-range shot more because I felt like they were going to take away the three. I just tried to really focus on trusting my work and playing my best."

McDevitt's Mic:
"You can't breathe in the game when you play (Kennesaw State)," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Nick McDevitt. "They make a lot of big shots. Because their guards (Wooley and Simeon Cottle) can score and make shots in critical moments, they're never going to be out of the game. We were 30-of-58 from the floor, and it came down to the last few possessions. (Essam Mostafa) was really good in the first half and (Porter) was really big in the second half and made some great plays for us. Another unsung hero was Tre Green, who played 10 minutes and made three big threes."

Up Next
Middle Tennessee will see one of the nation's top scoring threats in Jaron Pierre Jr. and his Jacksonville State Gamecocks this Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. in the Murphy Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard on WGNS Radio.

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