Multiple thoughts on the opening night of college basketball:

— Nashvillehoops.blog has expressed concern multiple times about how Middle Tennessee is going to deal with its seemingly difficult schedule.

Talk about unwarranted. The Blue Raiders demolished Northern Kentucky, 74-57, at the Murphy Center Monday night. Northern had been the preseason selection to win the Horizon League but proved no match for Middle, which stormed to a 24-point halftime lead.

Great defense is the most likely road to success for this team and the Raiders held Northern to 43 percent shooting (30 in the first half) and forced 18 turnovers.  Point guard Camryn Weston was the key performer with 14 points, five assists, three steals and only one turnover.

This is still not a great offensive team (the Raiders only made 42 percent of their shots), but Elias King can shoot it and he made 4 of 6 three-pointers. It’s critical to get him open looks.

Next for the Raiders is another potentially difficult matchup with Stephen F. Austin of the WAC at the Murph Thursday night.

— Tennessee State mostly had fun in winning its neighborhood rivalry against Fisk, 76-61. This is how it should be and that goes for the next game against Kentucky State.

Coach Penny Collins is expecting big things from Florida transfer Jared Jitoboh and the big man delivered with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and a team-leading 3 assists.

— Lipscomb is not only handicapped by the absence of leading scorer Jacob Ognacevic, but the Bisons’ other top two players, Will Pruitt and Devin Boyd, are returning from injuries slowly. Both played in the 76-59 loss to Wichita State, but Pruitt didn’t start and was limited to 24 minutes. Boyd played 28 minutes. Both would play more if fully healthy.

“We’ve been without Jacob, Derrin and Will for the last two weeks and it’s just hard to get better and be in sync,’’ said Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff. “They finally practiced on Saturday. Will had a minutes limit tonight. It’s hard to beat a team like that (Wichita) when you’re not at full strength and really not clicking.

“It’s been frustrating. I thought we were really making progress. Three weeks ago, I felt as good about our team as I have in a long time.’’

Things aren’t going to be better as the Bisons play at Drake Thursday.

— A thought about Belmont’s seeming lack of depth is the contribution of graduate transfer Jayce Willingham, who had two key baskets including a three-pointer in Monday’s 89-87 victory over Georgia State. Willingham is a tweener, a 6-5 swingman who’s shaped more like a football player, but if he can give coach Casey Alexander some quality minutes it would go a long way.

— One final thought: I think we can boost Georgia State’s chances in the Sun Belt. Five transfers started but the Panthers are a physical team with some skilled offensive players.