The Blue Raider bench proved to be the difference-maker in a 59-46 win for the Middle Tennessee men’s basketball team over the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Thursday night at Murphy Center. MT’s bench out-scored its ASU counterpart, 28-0, led by Kerry Hammonds’ 13 points, as the Blue Raiders improved to 18-2 to match the best start in program history.

MT also remains the only undefeated team in the Sun Belt at 7-0 after winning their 10th-straight on Thursday night. The streak matches the fourth-longest in program history and the 7-0 league start is the third-best in the school annals, both dating back to the 1985-86 season. The Blue Raiders start this season matches the 18-2 record of the 1974-75 season.

In addition to Hammonds, Marcos Knight and JT Sulton also scored double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sulton grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and had a pair of blocks, while Knight chipped in four assists. Bruce Massey showed his defensive prowess once again, collecting four steals to go along with four assists and two points.

The Blue Raiders held Arkansas State (8-12, 2-4 SBC) to just 21.7 percent shooting the second half, as the Red Wolves went a 15-minute stretch with just one field goal during the latter frame. ASU finished the contest shooting 32.6 percent, led by Marcus Hooten with 15 points, but managed to hang around thanks to 13-of-22 free throw shooting.

Massey got the Blue Raiders rolling with a steal and throw-ahead to Knight on the perimeter. Knight then kicked it inside to Dendy for the opening dunk.

Sulton’s jumper made it 4-2 before the Red Wolves went on a 7-2 run for the 9-6 lead. Shawn Jones and Knight then sandwiched buckets around an Ed Townsel layup to make it a one-point game midway through the first half.

The Blue Raiders regained the lead when Dendy completed a three-point play. Dendy picked up Sulton’s missed layup and was fouled on the putback. After he knocked down a free throw, Hammonds was there for another putback to give MT a 15-12 advantage with 9:52 to go before the break.

The 7-0 spurt continued with Massey’s driving layup before Malcoln Kirkland ended ASU’s 3:41 field-goal drought with a layup. Kirkland finished the game with 12 points.

Following Kirkland’s bucket, MT responded with seven more unanswered points, capped by James Gallman’s triple to make it 24-14 at the 6:23 mark.

The Red Wolves quickly cut the deficit back to five with five straight points from Hooten, kick-starting a 12-0 run. Brandon Peterson’s turnaround layup and another basket from Hooten brought ASU back to within one and Trey Finn’s 3-pointer put ASU back on top, 26-24, with 3:20 left in the opening half. Finn would go on to score 11 points in the contest, while Peterson managed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Hammonds put a stop the run with a trey from the corner, seesawing the Blue Raiders back to a one-point lead.

After Torin Walker knocked down a free throw, Hooten countered with a pair of freebies to knot things at 28, but it was Hammonds with another triple that gave the Blue Raiders a 31-28 advantage at the break.

Knight scored the Blue Raiders’ first three points of the second half, but Kirkland’s back-to-back layups rallied the Red Wolves in front, 35-34.

It was Knight again putting MT back on top, this time with a pass as he found Shawn Jones underneath for the lay-in. Hammonds drained his third bucket from long-range to make it a four-point gap nearly six minutes into the second stanza. The Blue Raiders went on a 14-4 run over the next seven minutes and, in the meantime, held the Red Wolves to one field goal during a 15-minute stretch.

ASU took advantage of free throws to stay within striking distance, hitting seven in the span, but Sulton took over, scoring six straight points to give MT an 11-point advantage with 3:24 to go.

Hooten finally ended an eight-minute field-goal drought for the Red Wolves with a 3-pointer at the 1:55 mark to cut ASU’s deficit to 10, but Knight nailed a triple of his own for the final dagger.

The Blue Raiders take their 10-game winning streak to South Alabama this weekend, squaring off against the Jaguars on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. CT and the contest will air on WGNS (1450 AM, 101.9 FM, 100.5 FM), WNSR (560 AM) and WMOT (89.6) with Chip Walters and Kyle Turnham on the call.