GAME NOTES: The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders play host to the Kent State Golden Flashes in first-round action of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the Murphy Center on Wednesday night.

Kent State is making its 15th postseason appearance in 17 years, and fourth in the CIT. The Golden Flashes won two straight and five of seven games to close out their regular-season schedule, although they got bounced by Akron in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, 53-51.

Middle Tennessee is one victory away from a program-record fourth consecutive 20-win season. The Blue Raiders are in the CIT for the second time ever, but their first as a host school. They made a run to the C-USA Championship game with three straight wins as the No. 6 seed before falling to UAB in the title tilt, 73-60.

This marks the first-ever meeting between these two programs.

Redshirt sophomore forward Jimmy Hall shoots 53 percent from the floor for Kent State and is the team's top scorer (15.4 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg). While Hall handles business in the paint, guys like Devareaux (13.3 ppg), Kris Brewer (11.0 ppg) and Derek Jackson (10.2 ppg) must all be respected along the perimeter. That trio has combined to knock down 199 of the Golden Flashes' 226 3-pointers this season. Manley ranks in the top-10 nationally with 102 threes, which he has made at a 40 percent clip. He drained what would have been a game-winning trey against Akron in the conference tournament, but the shot was released just after the final buzzer as the Zips closed out the game with a 6-0 spurt in the final two minutes. Hall led the Golden Flashes with 14 points and eight boards, while Jackson added 12 points in the loss.

On the other side, Middle Tennessee is an equal opportunity scoring team. Reggie Upshaw is the leading scorer with just 10.1 ppg, and his average of 6.9 rebounds also paces the squad. MT is the only team in the country that has gotten more than 40 percent of its scoring production from the bench. While Upshaw is the only player averaging double figures, six other Blue Raiders average better than six points. They had also stepped things up defensively in recent weeks, holding five straight opponents to 60 points or less before giving up 73 to UAB in the C-USA Championship. The Blazers shot a healthy 52 percent from the floor in that one, including a 9-of-19 effort from the perimeter. Jaqawn Raymond led the way with 12 points in the loss.

MT went 12-3 at the Murphy Center during the regular season and is 56-7 at home over the past four seasons, so the Blue Raiders will certainly enjoy the home-court advantage here. Coming off a deep run in their conference tourney, look for the Blue Raiders to advance.