Terrell Miller Jr. got to the basket and his layup pulled Murray State even at 59-59, but Simmons did the same to make it 61-59 and Karl Gamble added two free throws to pad the lead.
Gamble added a three-point play that gave the Blue Raiders a 68-62 advantage, but Jonathan Stark got the Racers within one, 68-67 with under a minute left. Nick King hit a jumper and Simmons hit two free throws for the final margin.
King finished with 31 points for Middle Tennessee, which hit just 1 of 12 three-point attempts.
Ja Morant scored 16 points for Murray State, which opened with a 118-61 rout of NAIA member Brescia Friday night.
