HOUSTON, Texas – Just before tip-off in Houston, a UTEP loss in Charlotte sealed Middle Tennessee's spot in the Conference USA Championship, but a short-handed Blue Raider squad would go on to drop a nail-biter down the stretch at Rice, 67-61.
"We didn't want our team to know before we tipped off that we had clinched a spot because we always want to play our game no matter what," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "So that didn't affect us today, I just think we had somewhat of a lack of effort in the opening minutes that hurt us.