Men's Basketball snaps skid with strong 90-87 win at Kennesaw State

Thursday, February 12

Kennesaw, GA

5:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

12-12,6-7CUSA

Kennesaw State

14-10,6-7CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Kennesaw St.

2/12/2026 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By: Andie Dolven

KENNESAW, Ga. – Middle Tennesee Men's Basketball (12-12, 6-7 CUSA) snapped its five-game losing skid when the program defeated Kennesaw State (14-10, 6-7 CUSA) in an intense back-and-forth battle, 90-87, Thursday night in the VyStar Arena, remaining undefeated against the Owls in the all-time series.

The Blue Raiders and Owls began to trade punches right from the opening tip, Alec Oglesby quickly answering Kennesaw State's first score of the game with a three-pointer. The first 20 minutes were back-and-forth until the halfway point when the Owls crept out to their largest lead of the game of 10 points. The Blue Raiders pushed back with an eight-point scoring run of their own to bring the game back within two, spearheaded by five straight points from Kamari Lands.

Both teams headed to the locker room with the Owls on top 49-45 after a buzzer beater jumper from Sean Smith to bring the game within four points. The first half saw eight lead changes and five ties. The Blue Raiders shot 65 percent from the field in the first half, led by Smith with 10 points; Lands and Torey Alston each had nine.

Middle Tennessee started the second half with scores on back-to-back possessions to tie the game. The dogfight continued; the Blue Raiders and Owls traded the lead 11 more times before the two-minute mark in the final period of play. A Chris Loofe dunk and an Alston blocked shot pushed the momentum in Middle Tennessee's favor. Alston's block proved to be the game changing moment when it translated to two Smith points from the free throw line after KSU fouled the guard to grow the lead to three. The Blue Raiders would go on to hold the lead for the remainder of the game, Lands and Smith each draining two shots when sent to the courtesy tripe.

Smith and Alston led the Blue Raiders in scoring with two 20+ point outputs of their own; Smith posted 22 points and Alston had 21. Marcus Whitlock Jr, and Lands also reached double-figure scoring, while Lands recorded a career-high seven assists.

Nick McDevitt
"Just a really great team effort," said head coach Nick McDevitt. "I told the guys this started on Monday. We've been having really good practices, but just not getting results. I thought Monday, Tuesday and yesterday's practices were really spirited, and it's a team that just kept putting in the work and got a good win on the road."

By the Numbers
22: Sean Smith surpassed 20 points for the first time as a Blue Raider, scoring a season-high 22 points to lead the team in scoring against the Owls.
38: The Middle Tennessee bench combined for 38 points, marking the most in Conference USA play and against a Division 1 opponent, the third most from the Blue Raiders the entire season.
90: Tonight's 90 points marks just the third time this season that the Blue Raiders have tallied 90+ against a Division 1 opponent.