# 2018–19 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by first-year head coach Nick McDevitt, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA (C-USA).
The Blue Raiders finished the season 11–21 overall, 8–10 in C-USA play, to finish in a four-way tie for ninth place. In the C-USA tournament, they were defeated in the first round by UAB.

## Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2017–18 season 25–8 overall, 16–2 in C-USA play, to win the regular season championship. In the C-USA tournament, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by Southern Miss in overtime. As a regular-season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, the Blue Raiders received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Vermont in the first round before losing to Louisville in the second round.
The season marked the first time in the program's history that the Blue Raiders were ranked in the AP Top 25 during the season, coming in at No. 24 on the week of February 19.
Head coach Kermit Davis left the school on March 19, 2018 to accept the head coaching job at Ole Miss. He finished at Middle Tennessee with a 16-year record of 332–188. On March 24, the Blue Raiders named UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt as the team's new head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tyrik Dixon | 0 | G | 6' 1" | 184 | Sophomore | Bentonville, AR | Transferred to Missouri State |
| Brandon Walters | 1 | F | 6' 10" | 250 | RS Senior | Chattanooga, TN | Graduated |
| Antwain Johnson | 2 | G | 6' 2" | 197 | Junior | Greenwood, FL | Dismissed from the team; transferred to Buffalo |
| Nick King | 5 | F | 6' 7" | 225 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated |
| Will Slatten | 10 | G | 6' 4" | 166 | RS Freshman | Sparta, TN | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Edward Simpson Jr. | 11 | G | 6' 2" | 195 | Senior | Ocean Springs, MS | Graduated |
| Therren Shelton-Szmidt | 12 | G | 6' 5" | 190 | Freshman | Mississauga, ON | Left the team due to his religion |
| Giddy Potts | 20 | G | 6' 2" | 217 | Senior | Athens, AL | Graduated |
| David Simmons | 21 | G | 6' 3" | 195 | Junior | Henderson, KY | Graduate transferred to Southern Indiana |
| Davion Thomas | 35 | F | 6' 9" | 215 | RS Freshman | Columbus, GA | Dismissed from the team |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| DeAndre Dishman | 2 | F | 6' 6" | 215 | Junior | Lexington, KY | Transferred from Eastern Kentucky. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dishman will have to sit out in the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of eligibility left. |
| Reggie Scurry | 22 | F | 6' 5" | 213 | Senior | Atlanta, GA | Transferred from Missouri State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Scurry will have to sit out in the 2018–19 season. Will have one year of eligibility left. |
| C. J. Jones | 23 | G | 6' 5" | 180 | Junior | Birmingham, AL | Transferred from Arkansas. Under NCAA transfer rules, Jones will have to sit out in the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of eligibility left. |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Junior Farquhar PG | Orangeville, ON | Orangeville Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 18, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Anthony Crump SG | Canton, MI | Plymouth High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | May 8, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jayce Johnson SG | Buffalo, NY | Canisius High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jul 27, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 23, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Keishawn Davidson PG | Murfreesboro, TN | Oakland High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Apr 19, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 23, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2018* 6:30 p.m. | | Lees–McRae | W 91–69 | 1–0 | 24 – Green | 11 – Scurry | 3 – Sims | Murphy Center (3,255) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 9, 2018* 11:00 a.m. | | Milligan | W 102–73 | 2–0 | 24 – Green | 12 – Gamble | 5 – Sims | Murphy Center (7,722) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 12, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Belmont | L 73–92 | 2–1 | 20 – Gamble | 8 – Gamble | 2 – Gamble | Curb Event Center (2,148) Nashville, TN |
| November 16, 2018* 6:30 p.m. | | Charleston Southern Battle 4 Atlantis campus-site game | W 76–73 | 3–1 | 22 – Green | 6 – Green | 5 – Crump | Murphy Center (3,945) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 21, 2018* 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. No. 4 Virginia Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 52–74 | 3–2 | 11 – Green | 6 – Hawthorne | 5 – Sims | Imperial Arena (1,115) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 22, 2018* 8:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Butler Battle 4 Atlantis | L 53–84 | 3–3 | 11 – Hawthorne | 8 – Gamble | 3 – Farquhar | Imperial Arena (953) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 23, 2018* 6:00pm, ESPNU | | vs. Stanford Battle 4 Atlantis | L 54–67 | 3–4 | 21 – Green | 8 – Hawthorne | 2 – Sims | Imperial Arena (1,087) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 1, 2018* 5:00 p.m. | | Lipscomb | L 74–84 | 3–5 | 30 – Green | 7 – Gamble | 3 – Farquhar | Murphy Center (4,573) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 5, 2018* 6:30 p.m., SECN | | at Vanderbilt | L 51–79 | 3–6 | 18 – Green | 8 – Gamble | 3 – Farquhar | Memorial Gymnasium (8,513) Nashville, TN |
| December 8, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Murray State | L 42–64 | 3–7 | 12 – Johnson | 9 – tied | 1 – tied | Murphy Center (4,102) Murfreesboro, TN |
| December 15, 2018* 6:00 p.m. | | at Toledo | L 62–84 | 3–8 | 13 – tied | 9 – Hawthorne | 4 – Sims | Savage Arena (4,205) Toledo, OH |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Facebook | | Ole Miss Battle at Bridgestone | L 56–74 | 3–9 | 22 – Green | 7 – Johnson | 2 – tied | Bridgestone Arena (11,294) Nashville, TN |
| December 30, 2018* 4:00 p.m. | | at Rhode Island | L 60–72 | 3–10 | 26 – Green | 7 – tied | 3 – tied | Ryan Center (6,382) Kingston, RI |
| Conference USA regular season |||||||||
| January 3, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | FIU | L 76–83 | 3–11 (0–1) | 23 – Green | 11 – Gamble | 5 – Johnson | Murphy Center (3,307) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 5, 2019 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Florida Atlantic | L 56–63 | 3–12 (0–2) | 20 – Green | 8 – Scurry | 6 – Sims | Murphy Center (3,422) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | L 70–77 | 3–13 (0–3) | 28 – Sims | 5 – tied | 5 – Johnson | Reed Green Coliseum (1,987) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 12, 2019 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | L 56–73 | 3–14 (0–4) | 13 – Scurry | 7 – Gamble | 7 – Sims | Thomas Assembly Center (3,894) Ruston, LA |
| January 17, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | W 89–86 | 4–14 (1–4) | 24 – Sims | 7 – Hawthorne | 6 – Sims | Murphy Center (3,504) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 19, 2019 5:00 p.m. | | UTEP | W 75–72 | 5–14 (2–4) | 21 – Green | 9 – Scurry | 4 – tied | Murphy Center (3,806) Murfreesboro, TN |
| January 24, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | at Rice | L 68–79 | 5–15 (2–5) | 22 – Scurry | 12 – Scurry | 3 – Green | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,375) Houston, TX |
| January 26, 2019 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at North Texas | L 53–70 | 5–16 (2–6) | 15 – Scurry | 5 – tied | 5 – Sims | The Super Pit (3,418) Denton, TX |
| January 30, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | W 71–65 | 6–16 (3–6) | 19 – Sims | 9 – Sims | 4 – Sims | Murphy Center (3,963) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 2, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UAB | W 79–78 | 7–16 (4–6) | 28 – Green | 10 – Scurry | 6 – Sims | Bartow Arena (4,075) Birmingham, AL |
| February 7, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Charlotte | W 71–53 | 8–16 (5–6) | 21 – Green | 7 – Hawthorne | 5 – Sims | Murphy Center (3,303) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 9, 2019 6:00 p.m., Stadium | | Old Dominion | L 50–55 | 8–17 (5–7) | 14 – Sims | 9 – Hawthorne | 1 – Sims | Murphy Center (4,380) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 p.m., Facebook | | at Western Kentucky | L 63–71 | 8–18 (5–8) | 18 – Sims | 11 – Hawthorne | 3 – Hawthorne | E. A. Diddle Arena (6,044) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 16, 2019 1:00 p.m., Facebook | | at Marshall | L 93–98 | 8–19 (5–9) | 31 – Green | 10 – Gamble | 2 – Green | Cam Henderson Center (6,927) Huntington, WV |
| February 23, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | Charlotte | W 86–67 | 9–19 (6–9) | 21 – Green | 7 – Hawthorne | 5 – Green | Murphy Center (2,986) Murfreesboro, TN |
| March 3, 2019 2:00 p.m. | | at Rice | L 61–67 | 9–20 (6–10) | 16 – Green | 8 – Farquhar | 4 – Farquhar | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,478) Houston, TX |
| March 6, 2019 8:00 p.m. | | at UTEP | W 69–53 | 10–20 (7–10) | 26 – Green | 13 – Johnson | 4 – Farquhar | Don Haskins Center (4,748) El Paso, TX |
| March 9, 2019 7:30 p.m. | | UTEP | W 48–47 | 11–20 (8–10) | 11 – Green | 10 – Hawthorne | 3 – Johnson | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| Conference USA tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (12) | vs. (5) UAB First round | L 61–70 | 11–21 | 22 – Sims | 13 – Gamble | 7 – Green | Ford Center at The Star (2,704) Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source: