Blue Raiders Road Trip: Middle Tennessee Challenges No. 17 Kansas in Historic Allen Fieldhouse Showdown
First meeting since 2000 pits surging Blue Raiders against powerhouse Jayhawks in the Phog.
LAWRENCE, KS - Middle Tennessee men’s basketball (1-0) hits the road for the first time this season, jetting off to the Midwest for a stern test against No. 17 Kansas (1-0) inside the storied Allen Fieldhouse. Friday’s 8 p.m. CT tipoff (ESPNU) marks the first matchup between the Blue Raiders and Jayhawks since November 2000 and MTSU’s first ranked opponent since last season’s trip to Michigan.
This will be the fourth all-time meeting and the third in Allen Fieldhouse. The Blue Raiders are 0-3 in the series, with losses of 103-68 in 1997, 97-77 in Murfreesboro in 1999, and 92-66 in 2000. Kansas owns a formidable 345-23 home record under 24th-year head coach Bill Self.
Middle Tennessee opened the year in emphatic fashion Monday, rolling past Fisk 117-73 on Education Day at the Murphy Center in front of 7,611 fans. The 117 points marked the program’s 72nd 100-point game and its highest total since 2019. Junior guard Quintero Barnett, a Division II transfer from Walsh, led the way with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, adding four assists in 27 minutes. Senior forward Eli Rice, a Gallatin native via Nebraska and Penn State, poured in 18 points off the bench, draining five three-pointers as the lone double-figure scorer from the second unit.
Kansas, coming off a 95-65 victory over Fordham, features consensus top recruit Tyran Stokes, a versatile 6-7 freshman projected as a top NBA Draft pick. The Jayhawks also return key pieces and added transfers under Self, whose program remains a perennial national contender after a Round of 32 appearance last season.
For the Blue Raiders, under coach Nick McDevitt, the trip offers an early measuring stick. All-time, MTSU is 4-25 against ranked foes, with its last ranked win coming against No. 25 Florida Atlantic in 2023. Probable starters for Middle Tennessee include Barnett, Jahvin Carter, Marcus Whitlock Jr., Ofri Naveh, and Kaleb Siler.
A raucous Allen Fieldhouse awaits, but the Blue Raiders aim to compete hard and build early-season momentum against one of college basketball’s elite programs.
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