MTSU defeats Milligan in Season Opener, 100-51
Murfreesboro, Tenn. — It’s early November across the country, and what does that mean? It’s finally college basketball season, and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders tipped off their season Wednesday morning against the Milligan College Buffaloes. Before this game tipped off, the Blue Raiders were the only Conference USA team not to play a game yet this season. Most of the conference remains undefeated besides Delaware and Louisiana Tech, who suffered losses to Bucknell and Nevada, respectively.
The Blue Raiders did not suffer a similar fate, however, as Middle Tennessee dominated the Buffs in Murphy Center for Coach McDevitt’s first win of the 2025-2026 season.
Kamari Lands, Just As Advertised
Preseason All-Conference guard Kamari Lands was everything Middle Tennessee needed Wednesday, and more. In the first half alone, Lands had thirteen points on 71% shooting, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and no fouls. Lands ended the day with twenty-one points and still did not commit a foul all night.
A great 2025 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders’ basketball campaign will ride on the coattails of Kamari Lands, and he made that true against Milligan. Through one game of action, Lands is fourth in the C-USA in points and tied-fourth in steals.
Blue Raiders did what they were supposed to
In these early-season buy games, some Division 1 teams have struggled to take care of lower-division opponents. Boise State, a team picked to finish No. 3 in the Mountain West Preseason Poll, dropped a game to Hawai’i Pacific, a Division 2 program that finished the 2024-2025 season with just a 15-14 record. Nothing is promised in college basketball, but the Blue Raiders were able to take care of Milligan without even the slightest scare, as Middle Tennessee started the game off on a 22-0 run and didn’t look back.
Breakdown
There honestly isn’t much to break down here, on both sides of the ball the Blue Raiders looked fantastic. Middle Tennessee moved from man-to-man coverage to a full court trap on defense all thorughout the game and never seemed to have an issue. Milligan finished the day shooting 27.3% from the field and 17.9% from three with seventeen turnovers.
Middle Tennessee shot 41.5% from three and had their way offensively, reaching the triple-digit mark in points for the first time in the regular season since the Blue Raiders’ early-season matchup against Rhodes last season.