Tops travel for 148th meeting facing rival Middle Tennessee

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – WKU men’s basketball returns to conference road play this week and will travel for the 148th all-time meeting with historic rival Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff from Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. is slated for 6 p.m. CT with the event streaming live on ESPN+.

The Hilltoppers enter the matchup facing the Blue Raiders standing at 11-6 overall with a 2-2 mark in Conference USA and coming off an 85-69 win over Kennesaw State on Saturday. WKU finished with a split in competition last week, falling short hosting Jax State, 73-67, on Thursday.

Enoch Kalambay posted a career week for the Tops in the team’s second week of CUSA play, charting a career-high 24 points off 7-for-17 shooting from the field with a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc and 7-of-7 at the charity stripe in Thursday’s loss facing JSU. The senior guard followed the performance with 19 points off a .500% (6-for-12) shooting clip, 2-of-3 from the arc and 5-of-6 at the stripe with a team-best eight rebounds and three assists in Saturday’s win over KSU.

Tyrone Marshall Jr. led the Tops’ effort in Saturday’s win, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Four Hilltoppers finished in double figures in total, with Don McHenry tallying 15 points along with five boards, one steal and a game-high three blocks, and Khristian Lander finishing with 14 points off 5-for-9 shootings from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Middle Tennessee enters the game standing at 12-5 overall with a 3-1 mark in conference play and coming off an 81-64 win over Jax State last time out. Senior guard Jestin Porter led the Blue Raiders’ effort in the win, finishing with a season-high 29 points with six made threes and earning a third CUSA Player of the Week nod following the performance. Porter currently leads the Blue Raiders and ranks seventh in CUSA in scoring at 15.6 points per contest.

GAME INFO
WKU (11-6, 2-2 CUSA) vs. Middle Tennessee (12-5, 3-1 CUSA)

Saturday, Jan. 18 | 6 p.m. CT
Murphy Center | Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Watch: ESPN+ (Jake Rose & Jill Jelnick)

Listen: Hilltopper Sports Radio Network | 100.7-FM (WKLX)/Varsity Network (Hal Schmitt & Randy Lee)

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Tickets: Purchase | WKUTickets.com | 1-800-5-BIG RED

Game Notes: Media Center

ABOUT THE TOPS

WKU currently averages 78.6 points per game
WKU ranks ninth in the nation in defensive rebounding with 29.18 per contest
The Tops rank 33rd in the nation in steals with 9.1 per contest and a total of 155 on the year
WKU ranks 50th in the nation in FG% defense, limiting opponents to a .404% clip shooting from the field
WKU is currently third in the nation in adjusted tempo with an average of 74.2 possessions per 40 minutes
The Tops rank 109th in the nation in fastbreak points with 11.94 per game
Don McHenry leads the Hilltoppers and ranks sixth in CUSA for scoring with 16.9 points per contest; McHenry’s 33 steals (1.9/G) are second most in CUSA and 59th most in the nation
McHenry holds the conference’s ninth-best FG% (min # attempts) at .399%
McHenry touts the fourth-best free-throw percentage in CUSA with a .797% (55-of-69) mark from the stripe; the senior guard also holds a .324% shooting clip from three-point range off the most attempts and most made threes on the team (34-of-105)
McHenry’s 34 made three-pointers ranks 11th in CUSA
Tyrone Marshall Jr. leads WKU and charts second in the league in defensive rebounding with 98 (5.76/G) on the year, good for 65th most in the nation; the graduate forward also leads the team and charts seventh in CUSA in total rebounds with 113 (6.6/G) on the year
Marshall Jr. charts second on the team and ranks 17th in CUSA in total blocks with 11 on the year
Leeroy Odiahi leads WKU and ranks 12th in CUSA in total blocks with 13 on the year
Freshman Julius Thedford is currently the team’s second-leading scorer and ranks 15th in CUSA in total points and scoring with 213 on the season and 12.5 per game
Thedford charts 16th in CUSA in made threes with 29 on the year
Jalen Jackson leads the team and charts 19th in CUSA in assists with a total of 37 (2.2/G) on the year

SERIES INFORMATION

Saturday will mark the 148th all-time meeting between the programs in a historic rivalry series dating back to 1914. Serving as the third-most played series in Hilltopper Basketball history, WKU holds a 100-47 all-time advantage over Middle Tennessee. A win would give the Tops 101 all-time victories over the rival Blue Raiders, with the teams previously facing off in the CUSA Tournament Semifinal last season on March 15, 2024, and WKU securing a dominant 85-54 victory to advance to the CUSA Championship Final and earn a 100th all-time win over MTSU. The 31-point margin of victory marked the largest for WKU over its rival since an 80-48 win on Jan. 7, 2006, and the largest in a conference tournament in program history. The Hilltoppers posted a split in the 2023-24 regular season facing MTSU, falling on the road in Murfreesboro, 74-72, on Feb. 24, and earning an 88-65 win at home in Diddle Arena on Feb. 3.

SCOUTING THE BLUE RAIDERS

Jestin Porter leads MTSU and ranks seventh in CUSA in scoring with 15.6 points per game
Porter earned a third CUSA POTW selection on Monday after charting 29 points in an 81-64 win over Jax State on Saturday and 27 points in an 84-79 win over Kennesaw State on Thursday
Porter holds the fifth-best free-throw percentage in CUSA for the season at .796% (43-of-54)
Graduate forward Essam Mostafa leads CUSA in rebounding with a total of 149 on the year and 8.8 per game
Senior guard Jlynn Counter and redshirt senior guard Camryn Weston rank seventh and ninth in CUSA in assists respectively
MTSU averages 78.5 points per outing as a team, sixth most in CUSA
The Blue Raiders rank third in CUSA in combined team rebounding, pulling down 39.4 per game and 670 total as a collective