Middle Tennessee stumbles 85-74 against Louisiana Tech

Thursday, February 20

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

8 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

17-9,8-5CUSA

LA Tech

18-9,7-7CUSA

Louisiana Tech

Middle Tenn.

2/20/2025 11:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By: Anthony Fiorella

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Following a back-and-forth first half, Middle Tennessee (17-9, 8-5 CUSA) was unable to keep up with Louisiana Tech (18-9, 7-7 CUSA) in the second half in a 85-74 loss at the Murphy Center Thursday night.

Following an 8-0 run to begin the ball game by Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee hit a trio of three-pointers courtesy of Jlynn Counter, Jestin Porter and Justin Bufford to cut into the Bulldog lead and bring the contest to 14-13 by the midway point of the first half. The Blue Raider defense buckled down and held Louisiana Tech scoreless for a stretch of 4:30, part of a 9-2 Middle Tennessee run. Louisiana Tech responded with a 12-2 run that took it down to the 6:10 mark on the clock before Porter hit his second triple of the night to stop the bleeding and make it a 26-18 ballgame in favor of the Bulldogs.

Yet another run brought the crowd down to the final few minutes of the half, as a 9-0 Middle Tennessee run spanned 2:30 to cut it to a 30-28 Louisiana Tech lead before a Chris Loofe dunk tied it at 33 with 1:25 left in the half. Porter was paramount in keeping the Blue Raiders afloat in the first half, leading all scorers with 14 points to go with three rebounds. Louisiana Tech shot an efficient 47% from beyond the arc to take a 39-33 lead into the locker room, led by Al Green with 13 points including 3-of-3 from downtown.

Louisiana Tech started the second half outscoring the Blue Raiders 11-3 over the first five minutes to jump out to a 50-36 lead, courtesy of eight unanswered points in the paint to tie the teams at 14 a piece in that category. Louisiana Tech was also able to turn Middle Tennessee over a total of 11 times, netting 12 points off turnovers including nine steals. The Bulldogs had 18 second-chance points to help them finish it off in the second half and were led on the night by guards Sean Newman Jr. and Al Green, who had 23 and 16 points, respectively.

Middle Tennessee was able to trim the lead down to as little as nine with under a minute left to play following a 17-point advantage that was gained by Louisiana Tech in the second half. Porter's 16 points and six rebounds led the Blue Raiders while fellow guard Counter supplied 12 points with three rebounds and three assists. Torey Alston had 11 points and pulled down six rebounds. Essam Mostafa tallied 10 points with four rebounds while Cam Weston had 11 points and three assists off the bench.

By the Numbers:
15: Fast-break points scored by Middle Tennessee.
9: Games this season in which Chris Loofe has had at least a pair of blocks following his two blocks tonight.
11: Games in a row in which Jestin Porter has had at least 10 or more points following a team-high 16 tonight.

McDevitt's Mic:
"I just thought they were a step quicker and a tad tougher," said Middle Tennessee State Head Coach Nick McDevitt. "I don't think there was an area that we did better than them. They were a bit quicker to the basketball and had a bit different of an edge than we did. They're a good team and there's a reason they were picked at the top of the league, but at the same time, I don't think we had enough juice tonight. Second chance points ended up 18-9 and was almost the difference of the game. There were a lot of possessions we did things right and they got an offensive rebound putback. We fought back from down 11 and had a chance to tie it early, but we just didn't have that juice and zest and this one will sting a bit."

Up next: Middle Tennessee hosts Sam Houston State Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the Murphy Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Blue Raider Network.

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