Middle Tennessee was scheduled to play Akron today for their first game of the season. Five days ago, news broke that Akron was going to pause their program due to COVID. After plenty of waiting and speculation, we have an answer for who the Blue Raiders will open the season with.
The school announced last night that they will play Omaha Thursday and ETSU Friday at the Gulf Coast Showcase. MTSU was also compensated with a third game to be played in Murfreesboro later in the season, opponent to be determined.
Onto Omaha
The 2020-2021 season marks the tenth year for the Omaha Mavericks playing in Division 1 college basketball. Their coach, Derrin Hansen, has been coaching there for 15 seasons, and won Summit League Coach of the Year just two seasons ago.
Omaha started the season today with a loss against Austin Peay, 72-66. The Mavericks halfcourt offense was often in disarray, and the team ended up with 19 turnovers and shot 3-12 from 3 on the game.
The Mavericks are coming off a 16-16 season, going 9-7 and finishing 4th in the Summit League. They lose their top two scorers to graduation but return everyone else and add a few transfers.
They do return two decorated players in senior center Matt Pile and sophomore guard Marlon Ruffin. Pile took home the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year honors last season, leading the conference in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and blocks. Ruffin won sixth man of the year his freshman season and looks poised to take on a larger role after averaging just under 9 points in 20 minutes a game.
Looking at the statistical trends for the past couple of years, Omaha has had success in both steals and blocks, while keeping turnovers low. That is not exactly encouraging for a team that has had many issues with turnovers the last two seasons. However, when the opponent gets the shots to the rim, Omaha has not had the same defensive success, as they were 300th in opponent eFG% last year and 334th the season prior (stats per KenPom.com).
The other stat that sticks out: Matt Pile has a career free throw percentage of 47%. That is pretty not good. MTSU can afford some foul trouble with their depth. It might not be a bad idea to put him on the line, possibly getting the Omaha offense out of a flow or even starting some fast break opportunities off misses.
MTSU will face Omaha at 11 am ET/10 am CT on Thursday. It will be broadcasted through FloHoops.com. A hefty $30 monthly subscription is required to watch (or you can spend $150 to have the year-long pass if you’re feeling ambitious.). As long as there are no technical issues with the stream, I will be subscribing, watching, and live tweeting (@GoMiddle_Oliver).
