Middle Tennessee vs. UAB: Preview, prediction and TV schedule

The Murphy Athletic Center will be rocking Saturday night as the #24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders host the UAB Blazers in the team’s first game since appearing in the Top 25.

Game Info

Location: Murphy Athletic Center  (Murfreesboro, TN)

Date: February 24th at 7:00 PM

How have the Blue Raiders been playing as of late?

The Blue Raiders have become the feel-good story of college basketball this week as they appeared in the Top 25 for the first time in program history. The Blue Raiders have won fourteen of their last fifteen games since they suffered back to back losses against USC and Miami in December. To put that into context, the Blue Raiders have lost only once in the year 2018.  In fact, their outstanding run began with a three-point win on the road against the Blazers.

In that win, Tennessee native, Nick King asserted himself as the leader of this nine-game winning streak. Scoring nineteen of his team’s final twenty-one points, King spurred his team to victory. Since then, the Blue Raiders have won seven of their last fourteen games by double digits.

How have the Blazers been playing as of late?

Since their last matchup with the Blue Raiders, the Blazers have managed to stay above .500, winning eight of their last fourteen outings. Sitting only two and a half games outside of a top-four seed in the upcoming Conference USA tournament, the Blazers could truly use a win against a ranked opponent on the road. Coming off of an eighteen point win against Southern Miss in which the Blazers outscored the Golden Eagles, 28-10 in the final nine minutes, UAB looks to be in a good mindset coming into the Murphy Athletic Center.

Key Player to Watch

As mentioned earlier, Middle Tennessee’s Nick King has established himself as the leading offensive threat for the Blue Raiders. The senior out of Memphis has been a double-double machine in during Middle Tennessee’s run of fourteen wins in fifteen games. The 6-7 forward has posted eighteen double-doubles in the team’s last fifteen outings, including a stellar 32 point, 10 rebound performance against North Texas earlier this month.

Next: Thoughts from the latest top-25 rankings

In his last performance against UAB, King scored grabbed eight rebounds while shooting nearly 70% from the field. If King performs anywhere close to what he’s capable of Saturday night, the Blazers will be in for a long night.

Prediction: Middle Tennessee, 78 – UAB, 62