Southern Miss Recap

No matter how you slice it, this was a very disappointing weekend for the Blue Raiders.

MTSU split their first conference series with FIU, but more importantly did it against defying odds from COVID related setbacks. It set forth optimism going forward. In their two losses to Southern Miss this weekend, the optimism not only completely faded, but pessimism grew at a rapid rate.

In the first game, MTSU stayed competitive for the most of the first half, as they trailed only 22-19 at the 6:50 mark. The Golden Eagles then finished the half on a 16-3 run, and outscored the Blue Raiders 46-32 in the second half, making the final score 84-54. MTSU's defense, which has been their strong suit for much of the season, gave up a season high 84 points, 16 assists, and 48% shooting from 3. They also only committed five total fouls the entire game (previous season low was 12), suggesting they were not defending very aggressively.

The second game was much more competitive, as the largest lead by either team throughout the entire game was seven. The score was tied at 53 with 3:13 remaining, but Southern Miss built a five point lead at the 1:04 mark, and it was too much for MTSU to overcome. The defense played back up to standard, but the offense maintained its anemic standard as well.

There are 347 D1 teams that have played a game this season. As of Sunday morning, MTSU's offense ranks 336th per KenPom's metrics. The average points per game among those 347 teams this year is 72.7. MTSU is 337th in points per game with 61.2 and have scored less than 60 in six of their ten games, as well as four of their last five.

Southern Miss played well and deserves credit for their wins over the last two days. That said, putting it as nicely as possible, they are more than likely going to finish in the bottom third of the conference this year. MTSU was still missing key players , such as Dontrell Shuler and Jayce Johnson, and this was their true first road games of the season. Still, losing these two games, especially one by 30 points, doesn't bode well for the hopes that this is the year the team returns to the competitive form we were used to in the early and mid 2010s.

The remainder of the schedule includes Western Kentucky, UAB, Charlotte, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, and Old Dominion. Given what we have seen all year, it is hard to have confidence at this point they will be .500 by the season's end.