MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Nick McDevitt's first Conference USA contest as head coach at Middle Tennessee didn't go quite the way he wanted on Thursday.
The Blue Raiders (3-11, 0-1) welcomed FIU (10-4, 1-0) to the Murphy Center and succumbed to a lengthy second-half run, losing 83-76.
"It was a tough one for our group tonight," McDevitt said. "I thought we played smart and really well for about three quarters of the game … then I thought we got loose with the ball at times and just weren't as intense and dogmatic defensively."
FIU utilized five MT turnovers and a tough shooting start from the home team to build an 18-10 lead seven minutes into the contest.