MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee leaned on its defense for a half and its size for the rest, beating Evansville 73-68 on Tuesday night at Murphy Center to bounce back in its third game of the season.
The Blue Raiders made all eight of their shots over the final six and a half minutes, every one of them in the paint. They won the battle inside 40-20 and shot 60 percent after halftime following a 12-of-28 first half.
Their defense set the tone early. Evansville shot 26.9 percent before the break and went close to nine minutes without scoring, and Middle Tennessee led 27-20 at halftime. A 13-3 run after the first media timeout, sparked by two Quintero Barnett 3-pointers, put the hosts in front 15-7, and the Purple Aces turned it over five times during that stretch.
Forward Ofri Naveh did much of the work on that end. He finished with five points, a season-high 11 rebounds, three steals and a career-high four blocks, and he teamed with Kaleb Siler and Jarred Hall to hold Evansville big man AJ Casey scoreless on 10 shots. The Purple Aces shot 35.5 percent overall.
Barnett led the scoring with 18 points, six of them in the closing minutes, plus six rebounds and four assists. Jahvin Carter added 14 points and five assists. Marcus Whitlock Jr. scored 11 of his 13 after halftime, including two putbacks off missed free throws in the final five minutes, and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Siler scored 10 on 5-of-8 shooting.
The Conference USA program committed only 17 fouls and 13 turnovers, both season lows. Both teams are now 2-1, with Evansville coming from the Missouri Valley Conference. Middle Tennessee stays home to face Southeast Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
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