2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 15th-year head coach Kermit Davis, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 31–5, 17–1 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. In the C-USA tournament, they defeated UTSA, UTEP, and Marshall to win the C-USA Tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 12 seed in the South region, they defeated Minnesota in the first round before losing in the second round to Butler.

2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball
C-USA regular season & tournament champions Challenge in Music City champions
NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	31–5 (17–1 C-USA)
Head coach	Kermit Davis (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Greg Grensing Win Case Ronnie Hamilton
Home arena	Murphy Center

2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee †	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
Louisiana Tech	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
UTEP	12	–	6		.667			15	–	17		.469
Rice	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Marshall	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
UAB	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Western Kentucky	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
UTSA	8	–	10		.444			14	–	19		.424
Charlotte	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			10	–	20		.333
Southern Miss	6	–	12		.333			9	–	22		.290
FIU	3	–	15		.167			7	–	24		.226
North Texas	2	–	16		.111			8	–	22		.267
† 2017 C-USA Tournament winner

Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2015–16 season 25–10, 13–5 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They defeated Charlotte, Marshall, and Old Dominion to win the C-USA tournament. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 15 seed in the Tournament, they upset No. 2 seed and No. 2-ranked Michigan State in the first round to become only the eighth No. 15 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game. In the Second Round they lost to eventual Final Four participant, Syracuse.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Darnell Harris	0	F	6'8"	231	Senior	Milwaukee, WI	Graduated
Perrin Buford	2	G/F	6'6"	220	Senior	Decatur, AL	Graduated
Joshua Phillips	3	F	6'8"	230	Junior	Hendersonville, TN	Left the team for personal reasons
Jacob Ivory	5	G	5'9"	168	Sophomore	Jackson, MS	Left the team for personal reasons
Jaquawn Raymond	10	G	6'4"	200	RS Senior	Statesboro, GA	Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Antwain Johnson	2	G	6'1"	185	Sophomore	Malone, FL	Junior college transferred from Chipola College.
Calvin Davis	10	G	6'1"	190	Junior	Charlotte, NC	Junior college transferred from Cape Fear CC.

Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Davion Thomas #51 PF	Columbus, GA	Northside High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jan 11, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Tyrik Dixon SG	Bentonville, AR	Southwest Christian Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Apr 9, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 3, 2016.

Preseason

The Blue Raiders were picked to finish in second place in the preseason Conference USA poll. Giddy Potts and Reggie Upshaw Jr. were selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.

Roster

2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Tyrik Dixon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Fr Southwest Christian Academy Bentonville, AR F 1 Brandon Walters 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 262 lb (119 kg) RS Jr Howard Walters State CC Chattanooga, TN G 2 Antwain Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 194 lb (88 kg) So Malone Greenwood, FL F 4 Xavier Habersham 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS Sr East Laurens Hill College Dublin, GA G 11 Edward Simpson, Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr St. Martin Ocean Springs, MS G 14 Chase Miller (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) RS Fr Shelton Dallas, TX G 20 Giddy Potts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Jr Athens Athens, AL F 22 JaCorey Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Central Park Christian Arkansas Birmingham, AL G 24 Quavius Copeland 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Jr Southside Gulf Coast State College Greenville, SC F 25 Karl Gamble 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) So A.C. Flora Columbia, SC F 30 Reggie Upshaw Jr. 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Sr Baylor School Chattanooga, TN G 31 Stephen Strachan (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr The Potter's House Christian Academy Moberly Area CC Nassau, Bahamas F 35 Davion Thomas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS Fr Northside Columbus, GA G/F 45 Aldonis Foote 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Sr Peoria Trinity Valley CC Peoria, IL	Head coach Kermit Davis (Purdue) Assistant coach(es) Greg Grensing (Texas State) Win Case (Oklahoma City) Ronnie Hamilton (UNC Pembroke) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/03/2016* 7:30 pm		North Alabama	W 96–65		Murphy Center (1,830) Murfreesboro, TN
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016* 11:00 am		Milligan College	W 102–64	1–0	Murphy Center (6,020) Murfreesboro, TN
11/15/2016* 6:30 pm		Murray State	W 87–81	2–0	Murphy Center (4,507) Murfreesboro, TN
11/19/2016* 6:30 pm		Tennessee State	L 63–74	2–1	Murphy Center (4,830) Murfreesboro, TN
11/22/2016* 6:30 pm		Toledo	W 80–70	3–1	Murphy Center (3,984) Murfreesboro, TN
11/25/2016* 7:30 pm		vs. UNC Wilmington Challenge in Music City	W 68–63	4–1	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1200) Nashville, TN
11/26/2016* 7:30 pm		vs. Toledo Challenge in Music City	W 73–70 OT	5–1	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (850) Nashville, TN
11/27/2016* 5:30 pm		vs. Evansville Challenge in Music City	W 66–55	6–1	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (500) Nashville, TN
11/30/2016* 7:00 pm		at Ole Miss	W 77–62	7–1	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1000) Oxford, MS
12/03/2016* 7:00 pm		at South Alabama	W 67–55	8–1	Mitchell Center (2,612) Mobile, AL
12/08/2016* 6:30 pm, CBSSN		Vanderbilt	W 71–48	9–1	Murphy Center (9,606) Murfreesboro, TN
12/14/2016* 7:00 pm		at Belmont	W 79–66	10–1	Curb Event Center (2,469) Nashville, TN
12/17/2016* 6:00 pm, ASN		at VCU	L 77–80	10–2	Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA
12/21/2016* 6:30 pm		Georgia State	L 56–64	10–3	Murphy Center (4,502) Murfreesboro, TN
Conference USA regular season
01/01/2017 3:00 pm, CI		UAB	W 60–49	11–3 (1–0)	Murphy Center (4,227) Murfreesboro, TN
01/05/2017 7:00 pm, beIN		at Rice	W 80–77	12–3 (2–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,513) Houston, TX
01/07/2017 2:00 pm		at North Texas	W 79–68	13–3 (3–0)	The Super Pit (2,263) Denton, TX
01/12/2017 7:00 pm, beIN		Marshall	W 69–57	14–3 (4–0)	Murphy Center (4,598) Murfreesboro, TN
01/14/2017 7:00 pm, ASN		WKU	W 91–76	15–3 (5–0)	Murphy Center (6,806) Murfreesboro, TN
01/19/2017 6:00 pm		at FIU	W 65–52	16–3 (6–0)	FIU Arena (1,401) Miami, FL
01/21/2017 6:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	W 86–57	17–3 (7–0)	FAU Arena (1,344) Boca Raton, FL
01/26/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3		Southern Miss	W 72–56	18–3 (8–0)	Murphy Center (5,498) Murfreesboro, TN
01/28/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN3		Louisiana Tech	W 71–61	19–3 (9–0)	Murphy Center (7,805) Murfreesboro, TN
02/02/2017 7:00 pm		at UTSA	W 69–59	20–3 (10–0)	Convocation Center (1,080) San Antonio, TX
02/04/2017 8:00 pm, ASN		at UTEP	L 54–57	20–4 (10–1)	Don Haskins Center (6,803) El Paso, TX
02/09/2017 7:00 pm, beIN		Old Dominion	W 64–51	21–4 (11–1)	Murphy Center (6,209) Murfreesboro, TN
02/11/2017 5:00 pm, CI		Charlotte	W 70–55	22–4 (12–1)	Murphy Center (5,720) Murfreesboro, TN
02/16/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at WKU	W 78–52	23–4 (13–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,385) Bowling Green, KY
02/18/2017 5:00 pm, ASN		at Marshall	W 97–86	24–4 (14–1)	Cam Henderson Center (7,620) Huntington, WV
02/26/2017 12:00 pm, CBSSN		at UAB	W 66–64	25–4 (15–1)	Bartow Arena (3,371) Birmingham, AL
03/02/2017 6:30 pm, ESPN3		FIU	W 70–67	26–4 (16–1)	Murphy Center (5,510) Murfreesboro, TN
03/04/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN3		Florida Atlantic	W 93–59	27–4 (17–1)	Murphy Center (8,806) Murfreesboro, TN
Conference USA tournament
03/09/2017 11:30 am, ASN	(1)	vs. (9) UTSA Quarterfinals	W 86–70	28–4	Legacy Arena (3,654) Birmingham, AL
03/10/2017 11:30 am, CBSSN	(1)	vs. (4) UTEP Semifinals	W 82–56	29–4	Legacy Arena (3,299) Birmingham, AL
03/11/2017 7:30 pm, CBSSN	(1)	vs. (6) Marshall Championship	W 83–72	30–4	Legacy Arena (3,956) Birmingham, AL
NCAA tournament
03/16/2017* 3:00 pm, TNT	(12 S)	vs. (5 S) Minnesota First Round	W 81–72	31–4	BMO Harris Bradley Center (17,303) Milwaukee, WI
03/18/2017* 6:10 pm, TBS	(12 S)	vs. (4 S) No. 21 Butler Second Round	L 65–74	31–5	BMO Harris Bradley Center (18,045) Milwaukee, WI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Source. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

See also: 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	Not released
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	RV

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings