BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee (4-5) vs Missouri State (6-2), 6:30PM, Tuesday, December 5, 2023

[SpaceRaider]

MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
Location: Springfield, MO
Enrollment: 24,224
Arena: Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000)
Conference: Missouri Valley
Website: missouristatebears.com Twitter: @MSUBearsHoops
Colors: Maroon & White Nickname: Bears
Head Coach: Dana Ford Record at School: 89-66 (6th Season) Career: 146-131 (10th Season)
2022-23 Record: 17-15, 12-8 2022-23 Finish: 6th MVC Postseason: MVC Quarterfinals
Starters R/L: 3/2 Letterwinners R/L: 6/4
Roster: Bears
Series: MSU leads 2-1 Last Meeting: MSU 75, MT 51 (11/19/22)

ESPN+ (Jake Rose, Daron Park)
Radio: Classic Hits 93.3 - 95.1 - WGNS 101.9 FM/1450 AM/100.5FM

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[SpaceRaider]

from a preview of the MSU Bears:

THE OUTLOOK​

Missouri State has the look of a conference contender this season. The Bears are old and bring a ton back from a year in which everything about the roster was brand new. The returning players are hungry, and Ford has the track record as proven by his 37-19 conference record over the past three seasons.

Ford is confident in his rotation now, and that means fans should see a more consistent product on the floor. Last season, Ford played so many guys simply due to the fact he was trying to figure out rotations and give his talented newcomers equal opportunities to prove their worth. Guys that should have played more didn’t, and some who should’ve sat more got extra burn. That all changes in 2023-24.

Said Ford, “Being a cohesive team is more important than being a deep team.” Missouri State is a deep team this season. But, more importantly, it’s a cohesive team.

 

[SpaceRaider]

MoState Men Look to Rebound at Middle Tennessee - Missouri State

Missouri State returns to non-conference play this week when the Bears make their first-ever trip to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to battle the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee

missouristatebears.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

Bears @ Middle Tennessee State 12/5 6:30PM ESPN+

Bears @ Middle Tennessee State 12/5 6:30PM ESPN+

247sports.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

Blue Raiders back at it against Missouri State on Tuesday - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee men's basketball plays its second of three straight home games Tuesday night when it takes on Missouri State. The return game

goblueraiders.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

51.0%
Line: MOST -1.5
Over/Under: 129.5

 

[sWiley]

I'm honestly already checked out. I have not watched a game since the UAB fiasco and have no plans to do so. The team is not only bad, they are extremely boring and predictable and thus painful to watch.


It is also infuriating to me to see these pathetic performances in OOC play. I personally enjoy and value OOC even more than conference play because it is the OOC schedule that gives your conference schedule it's worth and value.

If CUSA (including MT) just gets shit all over in OOC play....then who cares who wins the CUSA pillow fight ? I don't see much joy in winning a league if it's one of the worst leagues in the nation, do you ???...That's why the OOC schedule is so important.....And here we are losing by 30 to UIC, 12 to Ohio, at home to Wofford, at home to UAB, at home against the mighty Western Carolina, barely scrapping by UMKC a bottom tier program.....We havn't played a single P5 team and won't all year and we can't even stay above .500......And this is a team that was picked first in our league and Year 5 of a coach that was supposed to be good....

What is Massaro waiting for ? We have seen enough.

 

[ewglenn]

This one is going to get ugly. We lose big.

 

[MTFAN61]

I'm honestly already checked out. I have not watched a game since the UAB fiasco and have no plans to do so. The team is not only bad, they are extremely boring and predictable and thus painful to watch.


It is also infuriating to me to see these pathetic performances in OOC play. I personally enjoy and value OOC even more than conference play because it is the OOC schedule that gives your conference schedule it's worth and value.

If CUSA (including MT) just gets shit all over in OOC play....then who cares who wins the CUSA pillow fight ? I don't see much joy in winning a league if it's one of the worst leagues in the nation, do you ???...That's why the OOC schedule is so important.....And here we are losing by 30 to UIC, 12 to Ohio, at home to Wofford, at home to UAB, at home against the mighty Western Carolina, barely scrapping by UMKC a bottom tier program.....We havn't played a single P5 team and won't all year and we can't even stay above .500......And this is a team that was picked first in our league and Year 5 of a coach that was supposed to be good....

What is Massaro waiting for ? We have seen enough.

Actually this is year 6, but everything else 👍

 

[SpaceRaider]

#	Player	Pos.	Listed	Year	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%

15	Matthew Lee	G	6-0	Sr.	19.0	5.0	2.5	4.0	0.5	0.5	30.8	20.0
1	Alston Mason	G	6-2	Jr.	27.0	9.9	2.3	2.8	0.6	0.0	39.1	30.5
0	Chance Moore	G	6-6	Jr.	21.8	10.6	3.9	0.5	0.8	0.5	43.0	34.2
5	Donovan Clay	G/F	6-8	Sr.	32.0	11.9	5.5	3.6	0.7	1.0	46.8	30.0
4	Cesare Edwards*	F	6-9	Jr.	7.8	2.2	1.9	0.2	0.0	0.2	56.4	0.0
10	Damien Mayo Jr.	G	6-3	So.	20.6	4.5	2.7	1.0	0.5	0.5	43.6	20.0
33	Dawson Carper	F	6-11	Sr.	13.9	4.6	2.7	0.3	0.1	0.6	56.5
21	Nick Kramer	G	6-3	R-Fr.
35	N.J. Benson	F	6-8	So.	9.4	2.8	2.5	0.2	0.1	0.4	53.4
3	Tyler Bey	F	6-8	Fr.
2	Davion Hill	G	6-2	Fr.
11	Raphe Ayres	G	6-5	Jr.	8.5	1.4	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.0	38.5	33.3

 

[MTOleBlue]

Potential future conference matchup…

 

[SpaceRaider]

Potential future conference matchup…

Would be the best option, IMO.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Missouri State vs. Middle Tennessee State Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 12-5-2023

Middle Tennessee has a six-game losing streak ATS. Can Missouri State push it to seven?

winnersandwhiners.com

 

[MTFAN61]

Team has not shown us any reason to feel good about tonight's game. Missouri State will have more fans watching on ESPN+ than will be in the stands.

 

[crposton]

Team has not shown us any reason to feel good about tonight's game. Missouri State will have more fans watching on ESPN+ than will be in the stands.

Pretty sure most games have more people watching than are there. Why televise them if everyone watching is already at the game?

 

[MTOleBlue]

Team has not shown us any reason to feel good about tonight's game. Missouri State will have more fans watching on ESPN+ than will be in the stands.

I will probably go since my flight from Newark gets in mid afternoon. Have the tickets so might as well, even if they suck.

 

[BlueraiderSC]

I was excited about BB this year. Wanted to make it down from Nashville for games and just have no desire now after watching on ESPN+. Time to get McD fired. I’m sure in about 8 years it will be done.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[OliverLBaltz]

KenPom rates Missouri State (114th in the country) as the second best opponent MT has faced thus far (SFA is first at 105). Middle is coming off a bad loss to Wofford (246), the second worst D1 team they have faced thus far (UMKC is worst; 281). Coming off the SFA win MTSU was ranked 117th, but a few weeks later they have free fallen to 229th. What's particularly scary is this has all happened at home or neutral sites, because we know how bad their play has dropped off on the road the last few years. That's right, there is reason to think this might get worse...

The Bears were picked to finish 6th in the MVC poll and 4th on The Almanac. Coached by Dana Ford, formerly of Tennessee State. Simplifying their statistical tendencies, they shoot pretty good and they are forcing their opponents to shoot very bad. However, they turn it over quite a bit and don't really force many opponent turnovers.

The Blue Raiders offense is absolutely abysmal, ranking in the bottom-75 in almost all offensive categories. Out of 362 teams, they are 345th in shooting the 3. Missouri State is 19th overall in defending the 3. So my advice to the Blue Raider men tonight is to.... wait for it... not shoot 3s.

I was astonished to see Middle Tennessee rank 358th in tempo on the season. Thats fifth to last. For reference, last year's 195th tempo ranking was the lowest any McDevitt team has ever finished during his tenure in Murfreesboro. That has to change, and tonight would be a great time for it to start given Missouri State's prowess in defending the half-court.

Force turnovers. Get fast break points. That is the recipe to win. This would be a major victory for MT all things considered. Could go a long way in changing the trajectory of the season. I am not optimistic, but I am always hopeful.

 

[OliverLBaltz]

This is interesting...

 

[sWiley]

only reason its basically a pick is because of our crazy @ home record the last few years

Mo St. is the better team and definitely the play here. MT only wins with an outlier shooting night.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Raiders doing well up 6 with 3 to go. However MO State hasn’t been called for a foul the ENTIRE SECOND HALF which is ridiculous but might be an issue for them if they need to foul and make us shoot FTs

 

[tyler90wm]

Can't say I've seen this too many times, we have to inbound the ball multiple times to get fouled and rinse/repeat. Normally there aren't that many fouls to give

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Overtime. I can’t believe this.

 

[MTsumner92]

Who is winning?

 

[BRaiderDave]

Overtime. I can’t believe this.

I can. This team has no structure. It’s street ball.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Raiders doing well up 6 with 3 to go. However MO State hasn’t been called for a foul the ENTIRE SECOND HALF which is ridiculous but might be an issue for them if they need to foul and make us shoot FTs

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[tyler90wm]

Overtime. I can’t believe this.

So frustrating to watch, should have been able to ice this one away.

 

[SpaceRaider]

MT wins in OT 77-73

 

[tyler90wm]

This is a great win for the team, but man, very poor FT shooting at the end almost cost the game

 

[SpaceRaider]

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MSU	MT
FG%	41%	39%
FGs	24-59	28-72
3FG%	31%	33%
3FGs	8-26	12-36
FT%	89%	53%
FTs	17-19	9-17
TOs	13	6
PtsOffTO	9	9
TotReb	44	40
DefReb	36	28
Off Reb	8	12
2ndChPts	6	11
BenchPts	5	16
PtsPaint	32	26
FstBkPt	11	7
Blocks	2	6
Steals	2	7
Assts	7	13
Times Tied:	2
Lead Chg:	7
LeadTime	6:35	36:48

 

[blueboro007]

Unfortunately free throws have cost us at least two home games. But this was a pretty good win.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Terrible FT shooting must be improved no other way around it

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[crposton]

I can. This team has no structure. It’s street ball.

They run offense. Its just not 1950’s style offense.

 

[MTFAN61]

Really looked forward to start of the season. Absolutely love watching a well schooled & talented college basketball team, but I've pretty much stopped watching these guys.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Hopefully Ogundeli will be healed up and ready to go by conference,

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Good guys pulled it out. 👍
I watched it buzzer to buzzer.
Gotta admit though. When they let Mo. St. tie it up with that many fouls left to give and not just running out the clock, I figured I was watching another first for McDevitt. 😂

 

[MTFAN61]

Slightly off topic:
Saw Texas A/M is setting #21 in the top 25
Made me think about how is Eli fitting in there.
After 9 games,
Eli Lawarence: 3 points per game, 32% from field.
Hope you're enjoying Texas buddy.