Feature Photo by Caitlyn Hajek
Story by Jacob Burgess
Middle Tennessee State men’s basketball tipped off its season at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 4 in front of a packed Murphy Center crowd.
MTSU men’s basketball hosted a school day where thousands of Rutherford County elementary school students packed the arena for the morning tip off.
The small lower bowl had a handful of MTSU basketball faithful but the brain rattling cheers all came from the elementary school students.
“It was great having all the students from Rutherford County, our players fed off their energy,” head coach Nick McDevitt said. “It’s real loud, ear piercing loud, that is what you your home environment is to make it difficult for your opponents to come in and even concentrate.”
As for the game on the floor, the Blue Raiders had an effective offense especially in the paint, spearheaded by sharp three-point shooting. The defensive end saw Middle Tennessee stifle Oglethorpe.
Centers Chris Loofe and Essam Mostafa got inside and wreaked havoc against the smaller Oglethorpe post players. As a team, MTSU scored more than half of its points inside the paint with 54 points coming from the paint. Mostafa finished his first game as a Blue Raider with a double-double in only nineteen minutes.
Being able to go out and play in front of the crowd full of kids made the game more fun, Mostafa said.
The Blue Raiders shot well as a team, hitting 37% from beyond the arc with much of the productivity from Jestin Porter who went 5-8 on the day.
Porter’s focus was able to change with Camryn Weston coming back to the lineup. Weston’s return allowed Porter to focus on scoring and not running the point all the time, McDevitt said.
The Blue Raiders played an aggressive man defense against Oglethorpe, causing turnovers and jumping into passing lanes. McDevitt had his players commit to double teams at the top of the three-point arc, in the corner and all over the floor.
Middle Tennessee’s next game is on the road against Abilene Christian, on Nov. 9.
Jacob Burgess is the lead sports reporter for MTSU Sidelines
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