Middle Tennessee men’s basketball (11-11, 5-6 CUSA) dropped its fourth straight conference game against the Florida International University Panthers (11-11, 4-7 CUSA) inside the Murphy Center, 88-84.
With less than a second remaining in regulation with the score 75-73 in favor of the Blue Raiders, MTSU guard Kamari Lands committed a shooting foul on a three-pointer from half-court. FIU guard Brit Harris proceeded to make two shots at the free throw line, and the Panthers never looked back, carrying the momentum to outscore Middle Tennessee 13-9 in overtime.
FIU guard Corey Stephenson led the way for the Panthers in the extra period of play, scoring nine of the team’s 13 points matching MTSU’s total points scored in the period.
“Obviously, some critical misses [from the free throw line],” MTSU head coach Nick McDevitt said.” We ended up 70% basically, not making them at the end of regulation and overtime proved costly.”
Middle Tennessee shot 14-of-22 from the free throw line in the second half and overtime while struggling to score from the field only making 1-of-7 shots. Six of those shot attempts were three-pointers.
The Blue Raiders led 32-27 in the final minutes of the first half, but the Panthers closed the half with a 12-6 run taking a one-point lead into the break. In a game that included 12 lead changes, the Blue Raiders only led for seven minutes compared to over 25 minutes for FIU.
The lone bright spot for Middle Tennessee came from sophomore guard Marcus Whitlock Jr. who had 25 points for a season high, knocking down seven three pointers while guarding FIU’s top scorer Stephenson who led the Panthers with 34 points.
“I was really just coming in waiting for my time to come,” Whitlock Jr. said. “…I’m going to always shoot it well, every chance I get.”
The Panthers jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game, however the Blue Raiders battled back, taking the lead with 3:30 remaining in the first half. After halftime, MTSU and FIU traded trips to the free throw line, disrupting the pace of play for both offenses.
A Torey Alston one handed dunk sparked life into MTSU’s offense down the stretch, giving Middle Tennessee a 63-62 lead with 7:27 remaining in the second half. Despite an 8-0 run in the following minutes by FIU, the Blue Raiders once again closed the gap to four with three minutes to go.
Two back-to-back three pointers from Whitlock Jr. tied the game at 72 with two minutes remaining in regulation. The final 1:56 saw both teams trade trips to the free throw line where the Panthers went 3-of-5, and the Blue Raiders went 3-of-4.
“If you’re wallowing, there’s nobody that’s going to dig you out of it,” McDevitt said. “We got what we got.”
The Blue Raiders will look to snap the four-game skid in Conference USA play on Feb. 12, as Middle Tennessee travels to Newark, Delaware, to take on the Delaware Blue Hens (6-16, 2-9 CUSA) with tip-off at 12 p.m. CDT.
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