(St. Louis, MO) – Forget the names on the front of the jerseys. Forget the number on the seed line. Forget the records of accomplishment. Middle Tennessee is not afraid of Michigan State. The Conference USA tournament champions believe they have a legitimate chance against Tom Izzo and his physical Spartans.
Middle Tennessee is not a flash in the pan. Their worst win total in the last five years was 19 wins last season. At 24 and 9, the Blue Raiders are making their second appearance in the Big Dance in the past four years.
Head Coach Kermit Davis believes in an ariel assault. Middle Tennessee is 27th in the nation in three point percentage (38.7%) and Giddy Potts leads the nation with a 50.3% success rate from deep. They make just under nine triples per game.
Middle Tennessee comes into this intimidating situation battle tested. Davis’ squad was 8 and 5 on the road and 5 and 1 on neutral floors. They own impressive wins over Auburn, Belmont and Tennessee State, and over the last five seasons they have defeated ‘power 5’ conference teams UCLA, Mississippi (twice), Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Davis says he’s reminding his team that while they respect what the second seeded Spartans (29-5) have done, they don’t fear the perennial Sweet Sixteen visiting Michigan State. Perrin Buford and Reggie Upshaw also comment on the overall game of all-American Denzel Valentine.
The NCAA Midwest Region starts play today in downtown St. Louis. Middle Tennessee and Michigan State tip at 1:45 local time.
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
