MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee men's basketball jumped out to a double-digit lead early in the second half, setting the tone for a raucous Murphy Center crowd to see the Blue Raiders defeat No. 25 Florida Atlantic 74-70 on Thursday night in MTSU's first win over a ranked opponent since their First Round win over No. 2 Michigan State in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Raiders (16-11, 9-7 C-USA) trailed by one point at halftime after withstanding a 7-0 run to end the half from the Owls (24-3, 14-2 C-USA). But coming out of the locker room to start the game's second 20 minutes, MTSU scored eight out of 20 points on the fast break in the half's opening nine minutes, forcing an FAU timeout after Elias King put up a layup off a Teafale Lenard steal on an inbound, giving MTSU a 15-point lead at 56-41.