Ole Miss Hits the Road to Take on Middle Tennessee

Terence Davis makes a play for the ball in Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Sports

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team looks to rebound from back-to-back overtime losses on the court Saturday as they head to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

Ole Miss (4-3) comes into this game after an 83-80 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday in overtime. The Rebels led for nearly the entire game (37 minutes) before the Hokies pushed it to overtime.
The top five scorers for Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy’s team are Terence Davis (17.9 points per game), Deandre Burnett (15.7 ppg), and Devontae Shuler (11.4 ppg). Graduate transfer Markel Crawford adds 11.0 ppg, while Breein Tyree contributes 9.1 ppg.
Middle Tennessee is 6-1 on the young season after knocking off Vanderbilt 66-63 Wednesday night. The Blue Raiders are 4-0 on the road this year, with their only loss of the season coming at home to Belmont. MT is led by senior forward Nick King, who is averaging 24.1 ppg to rank fifth nationally. Fellow senior forward Brandon Walters adds 12.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg to go along with a team-high eight blocks.
As a team, the Blue Raiders rank second among Conference USA teams in scoring defense, allowing 66.3 ppg. Kermit Davis is in his 16th season as head coach of Middle Tennessee, leading the Blue Raiders to three NCAA Tournament appearances over the past five seasons.
Making the big dance each of the last two years, Middle Tennessee posted upset victories in both tournaments. In 2016, the Blue Raiders provided the biggest upset of March Madness with a win over No. 2 seed Michigan State. Last season, MT took down No. 5 seed Minnesota to advance to the round of 32.
Ole Miss is just 3-5 all-time against Middle Tennessee. The Rebels won the first two games of the series, one in 1960 and one in 1963, before the Blue Raiders took five of the next six meetings. This season marks the fifth time in the past seven seasons that the two programs have met on the hardwood. Middle Tennessee used a big first half to hold off an Ole Miss comeback last year in Oxford. The two teams have only faced off once in Murfreesboro, with Middle Tennessee protecting its home court in a 65-62 win (Dec. 8, 2012).

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.