MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The old cliché that offense sells tickets, but defense wins games could be said about Middle Tennessee's (2-1) 73-68 win over the Evansville Purple Aces (2-1) Tuesday evening inside the Murphy Center.  
 
Middle Tennessee held Evansville to a 35.5% shooting percentage as a team as the Blue Raider trio of Ofri Naveh, Kaleb Siler and Jarred Hall held UE big man AJ Casey to four points on 0-of-10 shooting.  

Following a rough first-half at just 42.9% shooting, Middle Tennessee attacked Evansville down low to help the Blue Raiders shoot 60% in the second half to grind out the win. 

Coming out of the first media timeout, the Blue Raiders went on a 13-3 run that spanned over seven minutes to take a 15-7 lead. The run was sparked by a pair of Quintero Barnett three's and some solid defense, forcing Evansville to turn it over five times in that span.  

Defensively, forward Naveh had a first half for the books. The senior grabbed eight rebounds, blocked three shots and had two steals. His play set the tone for the Blue Raiders to keep the Purple Aces off the scoreboard for a near nine-minute stretch and kept them to just 26.9% shooting as a team. Evansville's Casey was held scoreless in the first half. 

Fellow big man Kaleb Siler ended the first half with six points and three boards. Barnett led the team in scoring with 10 first-half points.  

The Evansville defense held the Blue Raiders at bay in the first half, keeping Middle Tennessee to just 12-of-28 shooting from the field, resulting in a 27-20 Blue Raider lead at the break. 

Jarred Hall has played significant minutes off the bench through the first two games and continued the trend through Tuesday night. The big man followed up an 11-point, three rebound game against Kansas with a nine-point, three-rebound game tonight with a plus-eight rating in 20 minutes of action. 

Guard Marcus Whitlock Jr. had a pair of put-backs on missed free throws with less than five minutes to play and his 11 second-half points helped the Blue Raiders ice it, late. The sophomore finished with a total of 13 points and eight rebounds. Jahvin Carter had a team-high five assists and had 14 points with two steals. 

Barnett did a good job of getting to the basket late, scoring all six of his second-half points down the stretch to lead the Blue Raiders with 18 total points on the night with four assists and six rebounds. 

Middle Tennessee's biggest offensive advantage was down low, where they outscored Evansville 40-20. The Blue Raiders finished the final six-and-a-half-minute stretch going eight-of-eight from the field, with all those attempts coming from within the paint. 

Aside from Hall's 11 points, Siler provided 10 points on five-of-eight shooting and pulled down three rebounds. Naveh had five points, a season-high 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. 

By the Numbers: 
4: Career-high in blocked shots for Ofri Naveh. The 6-foot-7 forward hit his new career-high by halftime. 

8: Career-high in rebounds for Marcus Whitlock Jr.

17: Middle Tennessee committed a season-low 17 fouls tonight. 

13: Middle Tennessee took care of the basketball, turning it over a season-low 13 times.  

Postgame Interviews:
 
Next Up: Middle Tennessee remains at home for a 6:30 tip on Friday night with the SEMO Redhawks on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Network. 

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