Upshaw, MTSU celebrate again
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Giddy Potts and the Middle Tennessee State University men’s basketball team both reached the big 3-0 in timely fashion.
Potts matched his season high with 30 points to lead MTSU to win No. 30 this season and its second straight Conference USA tournament championship with an 83-72 victory over Marshall late Saturday night.
Potts scored seven straight points to help the Blue Raiders (30-4) pull away with a late 15-5 run and reach that milestone win for the first time. Baylor School graduate Reggie Upshaw Jr. added 15 points with eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“For us to be able to do that in the fashion we did it, it really speaks volumes about our team and what we had to go through over the season and not just being satisfied with what we did last year,” said Upshaw, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound senior who helped lead MTSU to a round-of-64 upset of No. 2 seed Michigan State in last
year’s NCAA tournament.
The Blue Raiders are a No. 12 seed in this year’s
big bracket, and they will face No. 5 seed Minnesota (24-9) on Thursday in Milwaukee.
“Our team thinks we’ve got a lot of basketball left, and that’s going to be our mindset this week,” Blue Raiders coach Kermit Davis said.
The Thundering Herd (20-15) pulled within two points at 53-51 with 12:51 left in Saturday’s league title game before Potts and MTSU answered with what proved to be the decisive run.
Potts, the tournament MVP, made three 3-pointers, grabbed eight rebounds and made seven of eight free throws. League player of the year Jacorey Williams, an Arkansas transfer and Birmingham native, added 17 points.
Potts drew some motivation from being relegated to third-team all-conference status.
“We were talking about that the whole week,” he said. “(Teammates) were telling me I’ve just got to come out and play my game and I’d be MVP.”
C.J. Burks led Marshall with 16 points. Stevie Browning finished a strong tournament with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He had 78 points in four games.