1988–89 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team

1988-89 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1989 OVC Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

1988–89 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball
1988–89 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball
OVC regular season & tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
1988–89 record	23–8 (10–2 OVC)
Head coach	Bruce Stewart (5th season);
Home arena	Murphy Center
	Seasons ← →

The 1988–89 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by fifth-year head coach Bruce Stewart, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and were members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 23–8, 10–2 in OVC play to win the regular season championship. In the OVC Tournament, they defeated Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the No. 13 seed in the Southeast region, they defeated Florida State in the First Round before losing in the Second Round to Virginia.

Roster[]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G		Chris Rainey	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Sr
F		Randy Henry	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Sr

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Feb 25, 1989		Tennessee Tech	W 89–68	20–7 (10–2)	Murphy Athletic Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee
OVC Tournament
Mar 5, 1989*		vs. Eastern Kentucky OVC Tournament Semifinal	W 81–64	21–7	Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 9, 1989*		vs. Austin Peay OVC Tournament Championship	W 82–79	22–7	Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, Tennessee
NCAA Tournament
Mar 16, 1989*	(13 SE)	vs. (4 SE) No. 16 Florida State First Round	W 97–83	23–7	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 18, 1989*	(13 SE)	vs. (5 SE) Virginia Second Round	L 88–104	23–8	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast Source^[2]. All times are in Central Time.

v t Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball
Venues	(1950–1972) Murphy Center (1972–present)
People
	1942–45 1988–89 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22

1988-89 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Middle Tennessee †	10	–	2	.833	23	–	8	.742
Murray State	10	–	2	.833	19	–	11	.633
Austin Peay	8	–	4	.667	18	–	12	.600
Morehead State	5	–	7	.417	15	–	16	.484
Eastern Kentucky	4	–	8	.333	7	–	22	.241
Tennessee Tech	3	–	9	.250	10	–	20	.333
Tennessee State	2	–	10	.167	4	–	24	.143

† 1989 OVC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]