Sun Belt Sports Fans

Middle Tennessee 57, Western Kentucky 39

There are many turning points in the long and winding road known as the college basketball conference season, but the most important turn is often the last one before tournament time. Middle Tennessee made the right turn and Western Kentucky made the wrong one, reshaping the landscape of one upcoming backyard battle.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in Sun Belt Conference competition from Murphy Athletic Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Saturday evening. The win clinched for Middle Tennessee – which finished the regular season 10-6 in the Sun Belt – the No. 2 seed in the East Division and a first-round bye in the conference tournament. The loss dropped Western Kentucky to 8-8 in conference play, at third place in the East. WKU will have to play a first-round Sun Belt Tournament game against Louisiana-Monroe. ULM itself is a horrible team, and Western Kentucky won’t have much of any difficulty in dispatching the Warhawks. The problem for the WKU crew is that it will have to play any kind of game in the Belt’s first round. The Hilltoppers must now play four games in four days if they want to win the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Middle Tennessee has to win only three games in order to march on to the upcoming Madness. This was a very consequential contest, and MTSU snatched it from WKU’s grasp.

J.T. Sulton scored 18 points to lead the Blue Raiders. Middle Tennessee jumped out to 12 point lead early in the second half. Western Kentucky scored the next 12 points to tie the contest at 33 but couldn’t continue its brief stretch of noticeably solid play. The Blue Raiders countered with a run of their own to put the game out of reach. Both teams struggled from the field, as Middle Tennessee shot 40 percent, but the drought on the other side of the divide was longer lasting and far more fatal.

Western Kentucky smashed its dreams of a first-round tournament bye because it was ice cold from the field all evening long, shooting just 30 percent in total and only 3-of-15 beyond the arc. The Hilltoppers were also just 8-of-20 from the free-throw line. Western Kentucky has now lost two of its last three games. Steffphon Pettigrew led head coach Ken McDonald’s club with 15 points and 8 rebounds, but no one else answered the bell on a day that rang loud and true for the Blue Raiders, who will try to enjoy their well-earned day of additional rest when the Sun Belt Tournament begins.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer