Photo by Tyler Lamb / Sports Editor
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (30-4) are headed to Milwaukee as the 12-seed in the South region and will play the fifth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers.
After winning all but one of their conference games, the Blue Raiders entered the Conference USA Tournament as the favorable top seed. They won dominant games against UTSA and UTEP before meeting the Marshall Thundering Herd in the championship game.
Using their patented 1-3-1 zone defense, the Blue Raiders forced the Herd into uncomfortable shots and bad possessions early to build double digit lead. After Marshall settled in and made a few shots, the Blue Raiders used the energy of the crowd to bear down on defense and get stops when they needed them the most. When all was said and done, the Blue Raiders walked away with an 83-72 victory.
Now they will face the Golden Gophers out of the Big 10. While the challenge will be great, the team is confident that they are up to the task.
“We have a great match-up with them. They have the leading shot blocker in the nation but we’ve been against bigger post men all season,” Senior JaCorey Williams said. “We’ve got to play physical down low but I like the match-up overall.”
The team’s goal at the conference tournament was to leave no doubt and clinch the automatic bid. This made what is normally a stressful day much more relaxing in the end.
“It was a good feeling, knowing that we had a guaranteed spot,” Williams said. “We were kind of sweating it. We thought we were going to Orlando or maybe Sacramento but I like the match-up between us and Minnesota.”
The location was a big deal to the team, as they want their fans to travel like they did to Birmingham. After finding out that they were going to Milwaukee, the team was pleased with their results.
“We really need it, we know that Minnesota is going to travel really well. It’s kind of Big 10 country,” Head coach Kermit Davis said. “It would make our players feel good to have a contingent of blue there on Thursday.”
The Golden Gophers will pose a tough challenge for the Blue Raiders. They are one of the most improved teams in the nation, simply by being in the tournament as an at-large team just one year after winning only two of their conference games. Coach Davis knows that his team will have to be ready for the biggest game of the year.
“[Richard Pitino] had one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college basketball this year with their program,” Davis said. “[We’ve] got a lot of respect for the Big 10 so we know we’ll have our hands full but we’ll work hard beginning tomorrow.”
The Blue Raiders and Gophers will play Thursday in Milwaukee with the time currently to be determined.
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