Story by Calvin White/Sports Editor

Murfreesboro, TN- Middle Tennessee men’s basketball (8-4) used suffocating full-court pressure and a balanced scoring attack to run away with an 83-67 win over Murray State (7-5) at the Murphy Center.

Middle Tennessee’s full-court pressure forced Murray State into 19 turnovers, three of them being 10-second violations, which it converted for 25 points.

MTSU’s balanced scoring attack was too much for the Racers to handle as Deandre Dishman (17), Camryn Weston (17), Eli Lawrence (15), Elias King (14), and Justin Bufford (10) all finished in double-digits for the Blue Raiders.

“I thought our guys were ready to play,” Middle Tennessee head coach Nick McDevitt said. “I thought our full-court pressure was something that kept them off-balance throughout the course of the night. We had a lot of guys play well and we needed it.”

By the second media timeout of the first half there were five lead changes and two ties but the Blue Raiders were in control for most of the night, leading for 33 minutes and 53 seconds.

After winning its final no-conference game of the season, the Blue Raiders will start conference play when it visits Charlotte on Dec. 29.