After being overlooked for a bid to the 2018 NCAA tournament, the MTSU Blue Raiders received a three-seed in the NIT. When they opened the tournament against Vermont, they looked like a team that could have beaten just about anyone who got into The Big Dance.
Middle started out slow in that game, as the first quarter ended with Vermont in the lead (this year’s NIT tournament implement a four-quarter game format). However, MT hit its stride in the second quarter as they outscored the Catamounts 25–12 and went into halftime with an 8-point lead.
The Blue Raiders came out of the locker room absolutely on fire and seemingly could not miss a shot. As shots sank from every part of the floor for the Blue Raiders, Vermont couldn’t find the basket. The Blue Raiders overwhelmingly outscored the Catamounts in the third quarter 32–9, and that lead was far too much for Vermont to overcome.
Giddy Potts had arguably his strongest performance of the season as he dropped 25 points while sinking six three-pointers. Nick King registered yet another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Brandon Walters and Antwain Johnson contributed 15 and 14 points respectively.
With the win, the Blue Raiders traveled to Louisville to take on the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the hot shooting Middle displayed against Vermont did not carry over to the first half against Louisville.
Potts
Although MT ended the first quarter with a 16–15 lead, foul trouble to both King and Walters complicated things in the second quarter. The Cardinals outscored the Blue Raiders 26–10 in the second frame, and they outshot the Blue Raiders 55 percent to 39 percent from the field in the first half.
Though the Blue Raiders drastically increased their shooting efficiency in the second half (65 percent), the second quarter was too much of a setback for Middle to overcome.
The loss marked the official end of the Kermit Davis era at Middle Tennessee. Along with him will go assistants Win Case and Ronnie Hamilton. Case was considered the favorite to succeed Davis as head coach.
Assistant Greg Grensing has not followed Davis to Ole Miss. He was interviewed for the head coaching vacancy but ultimately did not win the job.
The road ahead looks like a bumpy one for the Blue Raiders. Not only has Middle lost three of the four coaches on staff,they also will be losing their three top scorers in King, Potts and Walters. Johnson will be the only returning player to average double-figures in scoring. No other player averaged more than five points per game this season.
On top of that, what was once shaping up to be a promising recruiting class is now as uncertain as who the next coach will be.
