Middle Tennessee (1-0) opened its season with an offensive explosion Wednesday morning against the Milligan University Buffaloes (1-3), picking up a 100-51 win in front of a crowd of 7,813 filled with elementary students from Rutherford County Schools.
The Blue Raiders piled it on early, going on a 22-0 run before Milligan’s first point at the 12:58 mark in the first half.
“The best thing is what we were doing on defense,” MTSU head coach Nick McDevitt said. “We weren’t giving up second chance points. We weren’t giving up offensive rebounds, and we weren’t turning it over.”
McDevitt said that this allowed Middle Tennessee to get the ball out in transition, where the team’s offense functions the best.
Kamari Lands was a catalyst of the impressive run to open the Blue Raiders season, knocking down two three-pointers, a fadeaway jumper from the elbow and an and-one on a layup for 11 of his 21 points on the day.
“[My team] gave me a lot of confidence,” Lands said. “We shared the ball… and played great defense… I was in the right positions and scored.”
Starting center Chris Loofe also stood out for the Blue Raiders in their season opener. The 6-foot-11 junior compiled 10 points and 12 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double.
Today’s start for Loofe was his first as the everyday starting center for the Blue Raiders, after spending the last two seasons as the backup behind Essam Mostafa and Jared Coleman-Jones.
“Your approach has to change, and your urgency has to change,” McDevitt said. “That’s where he’s continued to grow, making sure that his practices look like he wants to play on gameday.”
With the departure of Mostafa, who led the Blue Raiders in rebounding and won Conference USA Newcomer of the Year honors last season, Loofe is looking to step up in the rebounding department for MTSU.
“Those two guys were very active on the boards, and I think that’s the main thing that I need to pick up this year,” Loofe said
MTSU took a 48-26 lead into halftime, with an emphasis on shooting three pointers. 22 of the Blue Raiders’ 36 shots were from behind the arc, with eight makes totaling for half of the offense in the first twenty minutes.
The offense’s production stayed hot in the second half, totaling 52 points while going nine of 19 from three-point land. Penn State transfer guard Jahvin Carter added 12 points for MTSU, with 10 in the second frame, with two three-pointers.
Every player who was dressed out for MTSU made an appearance, with six players making their debuts in the blowout win.
The Blue Raiders will hit the hardwood again on Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. CDT, as they host the Webster University Gorloks (0-0).
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