Rutherford Times

Middle Tennessee men's basketball picked up its third win in as many tries in 2022 against Western Kentucky, riding a strong defense and scorching hot second half offense to defeat WKU 65-60 on Saturday afternoon at the Murphy Center.

 

A cold start shooting (25 percent from the floor in the first half) left the Blue Raiders (9-5, 2-1 C-USA) trailing 27-19 at the break, but a 7-0 run out of the locker room quickly got MTSU back into the game. The Hilltoppers (8-5, 1-2 C-USA) were able to counter punch to stay in the game, but multiple alley-oops to Teafale Lenard and a 7-for-9 clip beyond the arc in the second half proved too much to overcome, as MTSU pulled away late in the Glass House.

 

A team effort on the boards, the Blue Raiders outrebounded the Hilltoppers 47-36 on Saturday, despite facing nearly a foot disadvantage at center between DeAndre Dishman and Jamarion Sharp. After assisting on just three baskets in the first half, Middle Tennessee dished out 12 assists in the second half to finish with 15 for the game, as the Blue Raiders outscored WKU by 13 in the game's final 20 minutes.

 

Lenard led all scorers with 19 while shooting over 50 percent from the floor, adding in six rebounds and three assists. Eli Lawrence recorded his second career double-double with 13 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds, also leading the team in assists with four. Jared Coleman-Jones was key off the bench for the Blue Raiders, scoring seven points, including a second three pointer in as many games, while playing excellent defense on Sharp in his 14 minutes.

 

By the Numbers

 

14-6: MTSU's advantage in offensive rebounding, an eight-point advantage that accounted for nearly all of the team's overall rebounding advantage (47-36) on Saturday. While the Blue Raiders only converted those 14 rebounds into six second chance points, the overall rebounding difference kept WKU to six fewer shots in the game.

 

7-for-9: The Second Half Three Point Shooting performance from the Blue Raider offense, the best single half mark beyond the arc this season. MTSU started the game 0-for-12 for three, before Lawrence's final three-point attempt of the first half found the net. Seven different Blue Raiders made those seven second half threes.

 

9 v. 4: Free throws made for MTSU vs. Free throws made for WKU. The five additional made free throws for the Blue Raiders made up the difference in the final 65-60 score line on Saturday afternoon.  

 

Blue Raider Notes

 

• Lawrence's double-double was the second of his career.

 

• Prior to Thursday's game at Charlotte, Coleman-Jones had gone 704 days without making a 3-pointer in a game. Saturday, he made his second in under 48 hours to improve to 3-for-3 from long range as a Blue Raider.

 

• The Blue Raiders have won three straight games and seven of their last 11 against Western Kentucky.

 

• Saturday's game was the fifth time on the year that MTSU had outrebounded its opponent by 10 or more.

Thoughts from Head Coach Nick McDevitt

 

"I just told our team I was so proud, obviously of the win, but (also) the way we won the game. We didn't shoot it very well in the first half. We were 9-of-36 from the floor, 1-for-13 from behind the arc, and it did not affect the way were defending. We only made nine shots, but they had only made 11.

 

"I just thought how hard we were playing, and the way were playing, it didn't affect our energy. And that was really important. Those are the moments I think that teams that aren't very tough, that don't play very hard, it's not 27-19 at halftime, it's 37-19 at halftime. You're going to have to try to beat a team like that by 20 in a half, and that's hard to do.

 

"Shot it well in the second half. Everybody was able to play hard and well because of some of the contributions we were getting from guys that were subbing into the game. Tyler Millin, Jestin Porter, Jared Jones, his last two games have been terrific and a result, we're not having to play some guys 35 minutes to where they're gassed late. Eli with a double-double, had a big boy rebound late in the game. We just got a lot from a lot of different guys."

 

Player's Perspective – Eli Lawrence

 

"There is almost a whole foot difference between Dish and their big man. Dish is doing a good job keeping him off the glass, so it was our job to come in and clean those up. We did a good job, I made that an emphasis for myself to just attack the rebounds." 

Original source can be found here