CUSA Tournament: Quarterfinals Recap & Semifinals Preview

CUSA Semifinals are set! Liberty faces KSU, while MTSU takes on Jacksonville State. Get key stats, matchups, and predictions.

The Conference USA Tournament has not disappointed so far. We saw Florida International upset Western Kentucky in the opening around and giving Jacksonville State a scare. Liberty took care of business against UTEP after the Miners squeezed out a close one against Sam Houston in the first round.

As we entered the quarterfinals games, we knew these matchups were going to provide us with incredible games. I traveled to Huntsville to attend the games yesterday evening and will be staying through the Championship on Saturday, and I'm sure glad I did. Let's recap yesterday's games and preview the semifinals.

Photo: Kennesaw State Athletics

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Kennesaw State vs New Mexico State

The Drive from Atlanta, Georgia to Huntsville, Alabama is 3 hours and 15 minutes. The drive and middle of the week game on a Thursday night didn’t stop Kennesaw State fans from showing up in their pivotal matchup against New Mexico State in the Conference USA Quarterfinals.

It was a back-and-forth game throughout most of the game. At halftime we were tied at 34 a piece. The two teams split their season series, oddly enough at each other’s home court. Kennesaw State took down New Mexico State on the road 69-56, while New Mexico State picked up a road victory in Georgia 60-49. Both teams are nearly identical in KenPom as the Owls rank 134th, while the Aggies rank 130th. Needless to say, it was destined to be a close game.

Kennesaw State built up a ten point lead in the second half, but the Aggies quickly that lead to zero within five minutes of game time. Simeon Cottle was a menace for New Mexico State, getting to the line 14 times, knocking down 12 of his shots. Cottle would go on to finish with 32 points in the game.

Kennesaw State fended off the Aggies throughout the second half, but New Mexico State didn’t go down without a fight. JaeCoby Osbourne was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back up with just three seconds left. However, Osbourne missed the game-tying free throw. Adrian Wooley drained the two dagger free throws for the Owls, while Christian Cook nearly banked in a game tying hail mary for the Aggies.

The Kennesaw State Owls took down the Aggies 80-77, advancing to the Conference USA semifinals in a matchup against No. 1 Seed Liberty. Free throws became the deciding factor as New Mexico State finished just 15-27 from the line, while the Owls knocked down 23-29.

Middle Tennessee vs Louisiana Tech

Similarly to Kennesaw State, Middle Tennessee had a strong presence of fans on the road. It proved to be instrumental in the Blue Raiders 77-75 win over Louisiana Tech.

Middle Tennessee had a lengthy scoring drought in the first half, causing them to fall behind to 23-16. The MTSU and fans weren’t happy about the foul ratio as at one point it move to seven fouls on MTSU and just two on Louisiana Tech. This lead to head coach Nick McDevitt getting a technical called on him after voicing his frustration.

Middle Tennessee grew their lead to 40-31 at the half, but Louisiana Tech called their way back, outscoring MTSU 31-22 in the second to force overtime. Justin Bufford drained a three point shot at the buzzer, but the shot was waived off. It was ugly for both teams in overtime as each scored just four points in the first session. In double overtime, MTSU finished off the Bulldogs as Al Green and Sean Newman Jr. both missed potential game-tying shots that could have forced a third overtime.

Despite winning 77-75, the respectable score doesn’t reflect the poor shooting performance for both teams. The Bulldogs finished just 1-15 from 3pt and 14-26 from the free throw line while MTSU finished 5-30 from 3pt and 18-29 from the free throw line. Both teams had plenty of opportunity to beat each other.

Now, MTSU faces off against Jacksonville State in less than 24 hours.

Semifinals Previews

We have two early matchups on the docket for the Conference USA semifinals. Liberty and Kennesaw State go head-to-head at 11:30am CT, while Jacksonville State and Middle Tennessee battle it out at 2:00pm CT.