Blue Raiders win penultimate regular season home game 77-67 against UTEP

Thursday, February 26

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

14-14,8-9CUSA

UTEP

10-18,6-11CUSA

UTEP

Middle Tenn.

2/26/2026 9:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By: Anthony Fiorella / MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee (14-14, 8-9 CUSA) knew it had a physical matchup on its hands with a UTEP (10-18, 6-11 CUSA) team that beat them in an overtime thriller in El Paso earlier this year. The Blue Raiders answered the bell by holding the Miners off in the second half in a 77-67 win.

Middle Tennessee out-rebounded the Miners 35-24, and had a 12-3 advantage on the offensive glass which led to 12 second-chance points to the Miners two. That proved to be the difference after UTEP went on a late run that cut a 20-point lead at 10:00 left to play down to just eight points with 3:47 to go before Middle Tennessee closed it out.

Shooting at a 50 percent clip, the Blue Raiders jumped out to an early 19-9 lead after the first 10 minutes. Middle Tennessee was 5-of-9 from three, with both Kamari Lands and Alec Oglesby hitting a pair of threes. Chris Loofe, Luka Jovanovic and Torey Alston helped the Blue Raiders to an early 12-4 advantage on the glass. Following a career-best output in the rebounding department, Loofe had five early boards while Alston had three and Jovanovic had two.

The Blue Raiders closed the half with a 34-26 lead behind Lands' 12 points. Lands was active defensively, getting a pair of steals. Alston contributed five points and had four rebounds to tie Oglesby with a team-high two assists. Guards Jahvin Carter and Tre Green both played significant minutes off the bench. Carter finished the half with five points a rebound and an assist while Green hit a three-pointer and had a rebound and assist and a steal while also helping keep the UTEP backcourt to just a combined nine points in the first half.

Alston's physical play down low on both sides not only helped Middle Tennessee close it out but also helped him earn his team-high seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Lands' had his team-high eighth 20-plus point game of the year, finishing with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Chris Loofe had another dominant performance on the glass, setting another career high with 14 rebounds after grabbing a previous career-high of 13 against Delaware last Saturday. The junior finished with seven points and had several thunderous dunks to his credit.

Ogelsby finished with four threes to help him get to 17 points on the night. Carter had nine points and Jovanovic had four rebounds, both efforts coming from off the Middle Tennessee bench.

Nick McDevitt: "Anytime you have a lead and the other team has bigs that can shoot, it can put you in tough situations, defensively," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Nick McDevitt. "Once they saw a few go in, they got hot. (Alston)'s length and size have made it to when teams double him, he can pass out of it or hit a hook shot and his free-throw shooting has improved. Double digit rebounds for him and Loofe were the difference of the game after being minus-six at their place earlier this year."

Torey Alston: "UTEP is a really good team and they fought back," Alston said. "Talking to the guys and coaches, we didn't want to repeat what happened against them last time. We locked in late, ran the right plays and made sure we rebounded."

By the Numbers
8: 20-point games this season for Kamari Lands, a team-high.
7: 10-rebound games and double-doubles for Torey Alston, both team highs.
13: Big man Chris Loofe's 13 rebounds ties his career-high and also nets him back-to-back 10+ rebound games for the first time in his career.

Up Next
The Blue Raiders welcome New Mexico State to the Murphy Center Saturday at noon for Senior Day. Stay tuned to our social media channels for information as to when the ceremonies will take place. The game will be live on the Blue Raider Network.