Blue Leads Four in Doubles Figures in Exhibition Victory

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Tim Blue led four Middle Tennessee players in doubles figures and Desmond Yates and Kyle Young both added seven rebounds in an 86-54 exhibition victory over York University Thursday night at Murphy Center.

Blue, a senior, had just five buckets but added 7-of-9 free throws for 18 points in just 18 minutes of action. The Blue Raiders had 12 players see action and 10 of them scored.

Young, also a senior, tallied 15 points and the seven rebounds in 22 minutes, while sophomore Theryn Hudson scored 12 points in only 14 minutes of play.

Yates added 10 points and seven boards, as the redshirt freshman drew the start and played 31 minutes.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Kanaskie had five points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes.

Rohan Steen paced the visitors with 18 points, as the Lions shot just 27 percent from the floor in the second half and 37 percent for the game. Daniel Eves grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for York.

Young netted 12 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting while Blue added nine points and Yates had nine points and five rebounds. The Blue Raiders were 18-of-33 from the floor in the first half (.545).

Middle Tennessee opens the regular season Friday, November 10, at 6:30 p.m. CT at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., against the Volunteers.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Middle Tennessee Head Coach Kermit Davis
(thoughts about the first exhibition game of the season)
"I thought we tried to compete for the most part. When you try to play that many guys, it serves its purpose. We got a lot of guys some minutes. I thought we played unselfish and we are trying to get some guys back from injuries. Adam [Vogelsberg] hadn't done anything in about two weeks and it was good to get him in. I am glad to see us back at full strength and hope we have a good upcoming week of practice."

(on the team's defensive efforts)
"I thought we tried to pressure the ball. I don't think [York] had a great penetrator, so we tried to cover them up. I was pleased with our efforts defensively. I don't think we were very good guarding around the goal. Theryn Hudson has to get so much better. He fouls continuously and he has to get lower and play with a better base." <

P> (on the play of Kevin Kanaskie and Nigel Johnson)
"I thought Kevin [Kanaskie] gave our team a great flow offensively. I thought Nigel Johnson did some things that we wanted him to do. We want [Johnson] to be aggressive on the open floor and finish the balls in the paint."

Redshirt freshman forward Desmond Yates
(on his first collegiate game)
"I had a lot of butterflies. I sat a whole year so I was looking forward to [tonight's game] for a couple of months."

(on his play offensively)
"I know what I can do offensively. Coach [Davis] told me, if you play hard, everything will fall into place and that's what I did."

(thoughts on the team's depth)
"I think that the strength of our team is going to be our depth. We've got a lot of people who can play lot of positions. I think our biggest strength this season will be playing nine or 10 guys. If we can keep working hard, things will be good this season."

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.