On what ended up a wet and chilly night, the Blue Raiders bested the Raging Cajuns 71-59. MTSU (10-11, 6-5) entered the Saturday evening game looking for a win after losing to North Texas Thursday. Louisiana-Lafayette (5-17 3-9) also had high hopes, after a close lose to Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
The game started when Kyle Young of the Raiders won the tip off, however neither team was able to find the basket, until the 17th minute of the first half, when Ross Mouton of Louisiana-Lafayette sank his first of five field goals. Seconds later, Darren Avery dropped a Raider trey, taking the lead for the first time. Unfortunately for him, those were Avery’s only points on the night.
The first half was largely controlled by MTSU, until the final few minutes before half when the Cajuns looked threatening, going on a 12-3 run to finish the half, and closing the Raider lead to one 27-26. Middle closed the half 11-26 from the field, 4-8 from beyond the arc, and 1-4 from the foul line. Lafayette didn’t fair much better, going into the break with 10-28 field goals, 2-4 three pointers, and 4-7 on free throws.
Middle Tennessee celebrated its NCAA tournament win over the University of Kentucky from March 11th, 1982 during half time, praising members of the team and coaching staff that were able make the reunion. The Blue Raiders won that game, 50-44.
Unfortunately, the Raiders came out of the locker room looking a bit flat, and uninspired. Their good ball movement and crisp passing looked errant and uninspired in the opening minutes of the second half. After the Cajuns took the lead for only the second time in the game, with 17:40 remaining to play, the Raiders called time out, and Coach Kermit Davis rallied his troops. Just over a minute later, MTSU regained the lead, and kept an iron grasp on it until the final whistle blew.
The Raiders played their usual high pressure defense, keeping the Cajuns on their toes, and forcing them to make bad decisions. The Cajuns tried to emulate the same, but MTSU taking its queues from guard Kevin Kanaskie remained calm, and continued to play Raiderball, and controlled the tempo of the game.
Coach Davis, bearing no resemblance to the amicable puppet frog who shares his namesake, could be heard barking orders at his players across the gym. The crowd was generally quiet, and got into the game at key moments, the student section lead the charge, filling the Murphy Center with their cheers and jeers when Cajun players went to shoot free throws. The tiny group of Louisiana Lafayette faithful tried to copy them, but were simply too few to distract the Raider shooters, who finished the night 13-22 from the line.
MTSU slowly built a lead in the second half, and in what seemed like a flash were up by ten, eventually stretching their lead to 17 late in the second half. Cajun fouls late in the period helped seal their fate as MT played great defense, forcing turnovers, and preventing the Cajuns from posting points.
Sophomore Kevin Kanaskie lead the Big Blue with 18 points and 13 assists for a big double-double. Calvin O’Neil was close with 17 points, Desmond Yates and Kyle Young rounded out the double digit scorers with 13, and 10 respectively. Young finished the game one rebound short of a double-double, leaving the game with 9 rebounds with just under two minutes left. The Raider bench contributed valuable points and rebounds through out the game, as the starting five played hard for the majority of the game.
Overall it was comfortable win for the Blue Raiders, who have now split their last 4 games 2-2. The next time the Raiders hit the hardwood is against South Dakota State (4-15) on Monday night. Until then, remember how good it feels to leave the Murphy Center as the pep band belts out “Alma Mater”, and every blue clad face is smiling.
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