Middle Tennessee men’s basketball (14-6, 5-2 CUSA) is nearing the middle of Conference USA play, and a crucial weekend is upcoming.  

CUSA is tightly packed with three teams tied for first place, including MTSU, in addition to seven teams being above .500. Middle Tennessee plays New Mexico State, Jan. 30 and University of Texas at El Paso, Feb. 1.  

MTSU will face similar challenges with New Mexico State and UTEP, both being defense sound. Both sit at the bottom of CUSA in points scored but in the top three of points allowed.  

New Mexico State (11-9, 4-3 CUSA) 

With no clear leader in the conference standings, the Aggies sit in sixth place and provide multiple challenges. The biggest being that NMSU is one of the few CUSA teams to find road success.

The Aggies 2-1 in conference away games, have faced UTEP, FIU and Liberty to this point.

In a hostile environment against UTEP, the Aggies used offensive rebounds, turnovers and defense to shut down conference leading UTEP.  

New Mexico State scored 24 points from second chance and turnovers alone.  

Middle Tennessee will have a size advantage over the Aggies. New Mexico States’s go-to post tandem of Peter Filipovity and Robert Carpenter are undersized when compared to MTSU’s Essam Mostafa and Chris Loofe which will be a match up to watch.  

UTEP (15-5, 5-2 CUSA)

UTEP is tied for first in CUSA with Middle Tennessee and Jacksonville State. The Miners will continue to learn how to operate without starting guard Corey Camper Jr.  

Against Kennesaw State, UTEP’s first game without Camper, the Miners relied on forcing turnovers and chewing clock on the offensive end.

UTEP travels to Western Kentucky before facing the Blue Raiders giving the Miners one more chance to fine tune the lineup before facing another top team. The game could possibly be for the top spot in the CUSA at the midway point of the conference season.  

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