Feature Photo by Caitlyn Hajek
Story by Jacob Burgess
Middle Tennessee State University men’s basketball won against in-state opponent, Rhodes College on Wednesday with a final score of 103-55.
The first half was messy with both sides playing physical, in-your-face basketball. Middle Tennessee struggled early to find a rhythm.
After the first media timeout around the 13-minute mark, MTSU subbed in Jacob Johnson who brought the defensive energy Middle Tennessee lacked.
“You’ve got to play with the kind of energy that requires,” head coach Nick McDevitt said. “You can’t just use athleticism, and you can’t just be athletic and all and not play hard. Then your athleticism and height is negated and I thought we were just trying to be bigger and once we figured that, things changed.”
From that point forward the Blue Raiders controlled the game. Middle Tennessee stole the ball 14 times and caused 19 total turnovers. The play that sums up the change came with 10:34 left in the first half.
Essam Mostafa intercepted a pass, and Johnson grabbed the loose ball, starting to move up court. Johnson attempted a pass to guard Tre Green, but the ball ended up loose on the floor. Mostafa, along with redshirt freshman Torey Alston ended up on the floor trying to gain possession for MTSU, eventually getting the ball out.
Nothing came from the hectic chaos with MTSU throwing the ball away, but the Blue Raiders kept that intensity for the rest of the game.
The second half was much of the same as the Blue Raiders ran the score up on Rhodes. McDevitt subbed the starters out with roughly 10 minutes left in the second half.
The reality is that Rhodes was a warm-up game for MTSU as the team gets set for a stretch of tough in-state matchups. For the last four games of December, the Blue Raiders go on the road at Belmont, host California Baptist and Lipscomb and wrap up with a trip to face No. 3 Tennessee.
Belmont is the last out-of-conference game that is on the same competition level as what Middle Tennessee will face in Conference USA.
McDevitt hopes fans will travel to Nashville to see MTSU face off against a good Belmont program. Last year’s competitive game finished with the Bruins winning 75-65.
Jacob Burgess is the lead sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines
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