Photo by Ambre Rogue / Staff Photographer
The Middle Tennessee men’s basketball team has won six straight games and five consecutive on the road. They will return to the Murphy Center on Thursday when they welcome in-state rival Vanderbilt. The Raiders aren’t just one of the hottest teams in the conference, but also in the nation, as their RPI currently sits at ninth out of over 300 teams.
The streak began when the team defeated Toledo 80-70 at home on November 22nd. They continued their good play by sweeping the Challenge in Music City, beating North Carolina-Wilmington, Toledo again and Evansville.
The Blue Raiders kept their dominance going on the road in Oxford, Mississippi by beating the Mississippi Rebels 77-62 in a game that they led by 29 points at halftime. MTSU finished the road trip by defeating the South Alabama Jaguars 67-55.
Before that, however, the Raiders lost a tough game at home to the Tennessee State Tigers 74-63. MTSU left 12 points at the free throw line, only making seven of their 19 attempts from the charity stripe. Head coach Kermit Davis believes that its important to have a game like TSU early in the season because it serves as a wake-up call.
“Sometimes humbling is not a bad thing,” Davis said. “Tennessee State came in and played really good that night and I think since then, our team has had more of a sense of urgency…we’ve just played better in a lot of areas.”
The team has won in different ways throughout the streak. They rode the offense early in the game against Ole Miss, scoring 49 points in the first half. MTSU then dominated the glass against South Alabama, out-rebounding the Jaguars 35-19. For the players, the team’s newfound physicality led to it’s success.
“We started being more physical, as far as defending and rebounding,” Senior forward JaCorey Williams said. “We were lacking in that area and that’s why we really got beat [by TSU]. We put more of an emphasis on it in practice and got better at it.”
With games against Vanderbilt, VCU, and Belmont still on the schedule, these early wins have given the Raiders more confidence as they look to build their resume for the NCAA tournament in March.
“We know we can play with anyone in the country. We proved that last year in the tournament,” Senior forward Reggie Upshaw said. “Now it’s just about showing the committee and everyone else who does the rankings that we are a legit team and we are here to play against anybody.”
The Vanderbilt Commodores pose the latest challenge for the Blue Raiders. Though they come in at 4-4, they’ve been in tough games against Butler and Minnesota on neutral courts. Davis said the Raiders will have to play their best game of the year for their streak to continue.
“They’ve got really skilled guard play, and both their bigs, [Luke] Kornet and [Jeff] Roberson, can step out and make threes. They’re versatile, they do a lot of good things well,” Davis said. “[We need to] just play unselfishly like we have where the ball doesn’t stick and it keeps moving and moving. If we do that, I think our team will have a chance to play well.”
MTSU will need players like Upshaw and Williams to continue crashing the boards for them to have success in this game. Vanderbilt has length that the team hasn’t seen yet, making the rebounding battle crucial.
“Of course [with them] being an SEC team, a bigger team, they rebound really well,” Upshaw said. “We’ll have to battle on the boards and as long as we can keep the rebounding kind of even, we should have a good chance to win.”
The Blue Raiders and Commodores will tip off at 6:30 p.m. The game will also air on the CBS Sports Network.
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