Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (3-5) at Vanderbilt Commodores (5-2)

When: 6:30 PM CT, Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee

TV: SEC Network/WatchESPN

Radio: Vanderbilt IMG Sports Network

As Vanderbilt continues its adjustment to life without Darius Garland, a familiar foe comes to town. The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, who have beaten Vanderbilt in each of the last two years, visit Memorial Gym tonight for Vanderbilt’s last game before exams begin.

The good news? Well, MTSU is not even close to the same team it was over the last few years under Kermit Davis. Most of the team’s major contributors from last season are gone, and so is Kermit Davis, who’s now the coach at Ole Miss. The Blue Raiders are 3-5 on the season, with two of those wins coming against non-Division I foes Lees McRae and Milligan. They’re currently ranked #206 in KenPom under first-year head coach Nicholas McDevitt; should that hold up, it would be the worst team MTSU has fielded in the eighteen years that KenPom has been doing this.

Vanderbilt is a pretty significant favorite in this one — 14.5 points according to the oddsmakers — and a blowout win tonight would do a ton to restore the team’s confidence in itself after losing their star player.

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