Middle Tennessee took care of business in the Conference USA tournament final Saturday night, leading from opening tip to final buzzer and grabbing an 83-72 win over No. 6 seed Marshall. The tournament win earns the Blue Raiders their second trip to the NCAA tournament in as many years. MTSU’s Giddy Potts led all scorers on the night with a cool 30 points.
Middle Tennessee wins 2017 Conference USA basketball tournament
The Blue Raiders are dancing for the second year in a row.
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Middle Tennessee ran out to a 7-0 advantage in the game’s opening three minutes, and from there controlled every inch of the floor through the opening half. At recess, the Blue Raiders were up, 40-32, though not before Stevie Browning sank a three pointer with 16 second remaining in the frame.
Marshall came out of the locker room playing much better, and tightened the score up to 46-43 by the first media timeout of the second half. From there, the tug-of-war was on, with each team trading blow for blow, and by midway through the period the Thundering Herd were within two, 52-50. That woke up MTSU’s Brandon Walters, who grabbed a pair of rebounds and sunk a pair of layups to extend the Raiders’ advantage out to 57-51 with 10 minutes to go.
MTSU’s lead continued to grow in the closing minutes, and Marshall lost their composure as the onslaught came on, picking up back-to-back fouls with five minutes left, one of which was a charge. That foul in particular set Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni into such a furor that his very loud disagreement with the referees earned his team a technical foul. Middle Tennessee hit three out of four of those shots, and suddenly the Raiders owned a 68-56 advantage.
Middle Tennessee ended the regular season having made their debut in the AP Top 25 at No. 25. Had the Blue Raiders lost in the C-USA title game, they would have slipped back into bubble discussion with the possibility of missing out on the NCAA tournament altogether. Last year, recall, MTSU fragged No. 2 Michigan State out of the Big Dance’s first round as a No. 15 seed, perhaps the most crushing upset in tournament history.
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