Blue Raiders outlast Missouri State 90-87 in double overtime

Saturday, January 17

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

11-7,5-2CUSA

Missouri State

10-8,4-3CUSA

OT 1

OT 2

Missouri St.

Middle Tenn.

1/17/2026 8:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By: Anthony Fiorella / MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Up 88-87 with eight seconds left in double overtime, Middle Tennessee's (11-7, 5-2 CUSA) Torey Alston came up big against perhaps one of the best players in the conference in Missouri State's (10-8, 4-3 CUSA) Keith Palek III. Alston denied the baseline to Palek III and forced a tough mid-range jumper to try to tie the game that clanked off the rim and led to two clutch free throws from Jahvin Carter to clinch a 90-87 win for the Blue Raiders.

The MO for both teams was quite different to start the ballgame, as MTSU found the majority of it's success from beyond the arc, going 5-of-8 in the first 10 minutes while Missouri State was outscoring the Blue Raiders 12-2 in the paint during that stretch. Middle Tennessee found itself on top, however, leading 23-19 behind nine points from Lands.

Though they were behind on the glass and in points in the paint, the Blue Raiders efficient shooting as a team afforded them a 38-36 lead at halftime. Middle Tennessee was 61 percent from the field as a team behind Lands' four three-pointers and 12 total points. Alston had nine points with a pair of rebounds and an assist and guard Sean Smith had five points with three assists. Defensively, Middle Tennessee blocked four shots in the first half, with two coming from Lands.

Missouri State came out of the locker room and went on a 6-0 run to put itself ahead, but Middle Tennessee hung around, courtesy of Alec Oglesby and Tre Green hitting three clutch three-pointers to stop three Missouri State scoring runs, never letting the Bears lead grow to double-digits. The Blue Raiders narrowed the rebounding margin to just two by the under four-minute media timeout to bridge the gap to 64-61 with 3:33 to play.

With just over 1:30 left, Lands stripped Michael Osei-Bonsu under the basket, which led to a Smith mid-range jumper in transition to tie the game at 66 and eventually force overtime.
Down by one in overtime with 4:28 to go, Alston dribbled baseline and found Chris Loofe in the paint, who threw down a monstrous Statue of Liberty dunk to put the Blue Raiders up by four. Missouri State hung in, hitting three game-tying threes in the overtime period. Lands took a deep three at the buzzer that bounced off the front of the rim to force double overtime at 78-78. Lands hit a huge three in double-overtime that proved to be the difference in the score to help the team win.

Lands' 21 points came on a career-high seven made threes. Alston was +6 and grabbed nine rebounds to go with a team-high 22 points. Loofe was +9 and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and helped Middle Tennessee come back to out-rebound the Bears 36-33 in what was a gritty game. Oglesby, Carter and Smith all finished with 11 points, with Carter and Smith dishing out five and four assists, respectively.

By The Numbers
1: Tonight was the first double overtime game of the season for Middle Tennessee.
9: The individual high for free throw's made in a game by a Blue Raider, done tonight by Torey Alston.
12: Lead changes in the ballgame.
7: Threes for Kamari Lands is a new career-high.
3: Blocked shots for both Torey Alston and Kamari Lands

Nick McDevitt
"We fought for a win," Middle Tennessee Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "Their big man (Osei-Bonsu) is athletic and big and strong and was a mismatch problem. It's hard to block his shot when you're getting thumped. (Chris) Loofe had some big rebounds and had the biggest positive impact on the game with a +9. (Lands) hit some big shots tonight and we felt the energy in the crowd tonight to help us hold serve."

Torey Alston
"It was a tough game," Alston said. "Missouri State has a great offense, and we turned it over a lot, but we didn't get frustrated and just kept going. If there was a mistake, we moved on to the next play. We've grown a lot in that area this year. The coaches talk about how we can drive winning. Some nights, I may not be able to score, and I need to get rebounds and deflect passes and things like that. You just have to do whatever to help win, and I think I was able to do that."