Featured photo by Khori Williams
Story by Calvin White
MURFREESBORO, Tenn- College basketball teams that are projected to finish at the top of their conference hardly, if ever, underperform expectations as badly as Middle Tennessee men’s basketball has so far this season. At 5-8, the Blue Raiders have glaring issues that have cost them games, and there has been little sign of improvement.
When MTSU beat preseason Horizon League favorite Northern Kentucky and gritted out a close win against Stephen F. Austin in the first two games of the season, all the hype that formed in the offseason came to fruition for a short period.
The hype didn’t last for long.
Since the Stephen F. Austin game on Nov. 9, MTSU has lost eight of its last 11 games by an average of 13.5 points, even with a two-point loss to Western Carolina and a one-point loss to UAB. Every loss on the Blue Raiders’ record, other than those two, has been by double-digits, including a 37-point thrashing at the hands of Saint Mary’s, where MTSU scored its lowest point total since 1947.
There have been losses where head coach Nick McDevitt has tipped his cap to the opposing team, and there have been losses where he points out multiple things that his team could have done better to at least keep the game competitive.
There are multiple errors that the Blue Raiders make that are preventing them from winning games.
MTSU’s guards constantly get beat off the dribble and allow easy layups to opponents. In each of its eight losses, MTSU has allowed at least 32 points in the paint and has allowed 40 or more in six of those eight.
Giving up that many baskets is a recipe for failure, especially when MTSU only shoots 40% from the field and 27% from beyond the arc on average. MTSU has a great 3-point defense, surrendering around five made long balls a game, but the interior defense greatly cancels that number out because MTSU’s opponents score inside at such a high clip.
“We turned the ball over too much,” McDevitt said after MTSU’s 80-68 loss to Ohio. “The biggest difference in the game was we didn’t do a good job of guarding the drivers. Too many points in the paint, and they weren’t off post moves. Too many times today, we’re taking the ball out of the net due to a lack of being able to just sit down and guard the guy in front of you.”
MTSU has an extreme number of turnovers. In six of its eight losses, the team turned the ball over at least 12 times with the highest total being 20 in a 70-40 loss to UIC.
In the two-point loss to Western Carolina and the one-point loss to UAB, MTSU only had seven and eight turnovers respectively. Even when MTSU doesn’t shoot particularly well, when they keep the turnovers down, the Blue Raiders put themselves in a position to win games. Both the WCU and UAB losses came down to the last play of the game where MTSU failed to score.
When preseason All-CUSA selection Camryn Weston left the Stephen F. Austin game with a torn ACL, the obvious thought process was that MTSU would get worse. Weston had been the team’s leading assist man the last two seasons and was the conductor of the Blue Raider offense. Everything MTSU did offensively for the last two seasons centered around Weston and his ability to facilitate.
Although Weston’s absence created a void in MTSU’s identity, it should not have affected the Blue Raiders as badly as it has.
Without Weston, MTSU does not have a player who is an elite passer or facilitator. On many possessions, the ball sticks with one player and doesn’t move, creating stagnant offensive action. Holding the ball and overdribbling makes life easier on opposing defenses.
In the 75-65 loss to Belmont, McDevitt repeatedly pointed out that Belmont’s defense liked to attack when its opponents stopped moving the ball or took one dribble too many. Subsequently, MTSU turned the ball over 12 times and allowed 42 points in the paint against the Bruins.
“Over-bouncing it and holding the ball. A combination of the two,” McDevitt said of what led to so many turnovers. “There wasn’t crisp, sharp ball movement. We have to do a better job of coaching that because we had guys that held it then tried to beat their guy off the bounce. When we did dribble it, we dribbled it too much.”
Per NCAA.com, MTSU ranks 337th out of 351 Division I teams in scoring offense at 63.4 points per game, 322nd in field goal percentage at 40.3%, 297th in 3-pointers made per game with six and 271st in turnovers per game with 13.6.
MTSU’s mere six 3-pointers made per game allows opposing defenses to shrink the floor and take away the Blue Raiders’ driving lanes. This particularly affects players like Jacob Johnson, Justin Bufford and Jared Coleman-Jones who prefer to score inside. When there is no outside threat, opponents can sag off their man on the perimeter to help provide pressure on the offensive players wanting to drive.
“Just on the offensive end of the floor, we just aren’t comfortable right now,” McDevitt said after MTSU’s 74-64 overtime loss to Wofford. “We aren’t in an offensive rhythm right now. We’re not shooting the ball very well right now, particularly from behind the 3-point line.”
Outside of Elias King and Jalen Jordan, no other Blue Raider with at least nine attempts from deep is shooting above 30%. Ty Mosley shot 47% from beyond the arc last season at Mississippi Valley State but hasn’t quite been able to find his footing yet, making only two 3-pointers out of 12 attempts this season. Justin Bufford, who shot 40% from deep last season, is only 8-of-41 so far.
If King and Jordan aren’t hitting from downtown on a particular night, it’s a safe bet so far that MTSU isn’t going to get much offensive production from 3-point territory.
MTSU was the preseason favorite in Conference USA because of its experience and collection of new talent. Losing Camryn Weston threw a wrench in the Blue Raiders’ plan but in a relatively weak CUSA, McDevitt and co. have to find a way to right the ship quickly or they will find themselves wondering what could’ve been when the season is over.
Calvin White is the sports editor of MTSU Sidelines. If you have information for a story, you can contact him at [email protected]. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com. Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @mtsusidelines, or on X @MTSUSidelines.
