Middle Tennessee State (7-4) plays at Fertitta Center tonight against Houston (11-1), in the Cougars’ final out-of-conference game of the 2025-26 season. MTSU is coming off a 74-58 win over an NAIA Cumberland squad (Cumberland was winning 35-30 at halftime). The Blue Raiders are not very good.
MTSU has three wins over non-D1 programs. Their best win thus far is over a rebuilding UAB program (Seriously, Blazers?). They don’t have anyone who jumps off the page as a “Head of the Snake,” so I’ll go with Louisville/Arizona State transfer Kamari Lands. He’s a 6’8” guard who can play inside or outside, who uses the leg kick to draw cheap fouls, which tends to make me irate.
Coogs win big in this one, unless something just crazy happens. It should be a good opportunity to get some guys some extra playing time before conference season opens up on Saturday at Cincinnati. The team hasn’t played in nine days, so it will be a good opportunity to knock off the rust and prepare for Big 12 play.
Middle Tennessee Offense Notes
- MTSU is not a good offensive team. There is A LOT of “decent” and “pretty good” mentions below in personnel. They will have to knock down open three-point shots to have a chance to get to 50 points..
Blue Raiders Defense Notes
- MTSU primarily plays man-to-man defense. They love to full-court press, then drop back into their man defense.
- They may try a 1-3-1, 3/4 court press, but it’s not very effective.
- The Blue Raiders may run a 1-2-1-1 Diamond Press. They don’t run this press correctly. In this press, you want to trap and take away the easiest pass, but they allow the ball to get back to the in-bound passer, which lets their opponents easily break the press.
- They may sneak in a full-court M2M press.
- They love to run a “run and jump” trapping press, which looks like their M2M press, but they want to trap out of it. It’s not horrible, but none of their presses are great.
- They have run 683 M2M possessions and 26 Zone possessions. When they do it’s a 2-3 zone or a 1-1-3 zone.
MTSU Cheat Sheet
| Number/Name | Info/Stats | Quick Scout |
|---|---|---|
| #22 Kamari Lands | 6'8" SR G 13p, 5r | HOTS. Average shooter. Catch-and-shoot. |
| #2 Jahvin Carter | 6'3" SO G 13p, 3r, 3a | Not super athletic. Decent floater. |
| #10 Torey Alston | 6'9" SO F 13p, 8r | Athletic and bouncy. Hard worker. |
| #55 Sean Smith | 6'3" GR G 11p, 3r, 3.5a | Athletic, leads in assists. Creates to get to rim, good floater. |
| #13 Chris Loofe | 6'11" JR F 7p, 6r | Skilled post. Moves well. Solid roller in PNR. Should be used more. |
MTSU Personnel (*Indicates likely starters)
*#22 – Kamari Lands – 6’8″ – SR – Guard – (Louisville, Arizona State) – 13ppg, 5rpg.
- Big-bodied guard and head of the Snake;
- Leads the team in three-point attempts, but is an average shooter (20-62, 32%);
- May kick his leg out on three-point attempts to draw a cheap foul;
- Capable, but not great at creating for himself. More of a catch and shoot guy;
- Can play in the mid-post, but prefers to play beyond the arc.
*#2 – Jahvin Carter – 6’3″ – SO – Guard – (Penn State) – 13ppg, 3rpg.
- He is actually 6’0″. With the afro, 6’3″;
- Not super athletic, but a scoring combo-guard;
- Best when shooting wide-open three-pointers or getting to the rim;
- Decent floater in the paint;
- Average outside shooter (19-58, 33%).
*#10 – Torey Alston – 6’9″ – RS SO – Forward – 13ppg, 8rpg.
- Athletic post player. Can get bouncy around the rim;
- 100% right-handed. Needs it in his right hand to score;
- Likes the right-handed hook shot over his left shoulder;
- Not horrible as a roller in the pick and roll;
- Hard Worker on both ends of the court.
*#55 – Sean Smith – 6’3″ – GR SR – Guard – (San Diego Mesa CC, John A. Logan College, Alabama State, Western Illinois) – 11ppg, 3rpg, 3.5apg.
- World Premier Traveler! On his 5th college (two were JUCOs);
- Athletic point guard and leads the team in assists;
- Really good at creating to get to the rim;
- Pretty good floater in the paint;
- Doesn’t shoot a ton of three-pointers and isn’t great from outside (9-29, 31%).
*#13 – Chris Loofe – 6’11” – JR – Forward – 7ppg, 6rpg.
- Really tall/skilled post player. Moves really well for 6’11”;
- Solid roller in the pick and roll; If you slack off on him in the pick and roll game, he will pop instead and shoot the three;
- Capable of scoring off the bounce;
- I feel like they should use him on offense more often.
#11 – Tre Green – 6’3″ – SR – Guard – 7ppg, 2rpg.
- LEFTY;
- 55 of his 71 shot attempts have been from three-point land (16-55, 29%);
- I’d look to run him off the three-point line and make him uncomfortable.
#3 – Luka Jovanovic – 6’11” – FR – Center – 3ppg, 3rpg.
- Tall back-up post player;
- Decent foot work around the basket;
- Will be uncomfortable playing against the UH athletes.
#0 – Alec Oglesby – 6’5″ – GR SR – Guard – (Cleveland State, UNC Wilmington, Stetson) – 8ppg, 2rpg.
- Tall/athletic guard;
- Led Stetson in scoring vs. UH two seasons ago in a 79-48 loss (11 points, 3 rebounds, 3/4 3pt);
- Elite outside shooter; (20-41, 49%);
- Capable of getting in the paint to score, but prefers the three-ball;
- Didn’t play in their last game vs Cumberland. He was at the game but didn’t dress out.
What I’ll Be Watching…
- Bench Opportunities. This should be a great chance to get everyone on the team involved. Coach Sampson will look to get his top 7 guys meaningful minutes in the first half and build a big lead. The white team guys should play a good bit and give them a chance to shine as we head into conference season.
- New style? The Coogs have not scored under 80 points in their last four games. This shows that THIS team can play any style if needed. I’ll be interested to see if they play fast or slow it down to play lockdown defense in this one.
- Jojo Offense. I think the Coogs will look to play through JoJo early on offense. He looked good against Arkansas on offense until the fouls came. Get in there and go to work early!
