After a few years away-what could even be called a long absence for a program so used to postseason success-Murray State is back in the NCAA Tournament. And it couldn’t be in much more satisfying fashion.
The Racers became the first team to clinch a spot in the 2018 NCAA tourney on Saturday, pulling away late from recent nemesis Belmont for a 68-51 win in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Evansville, Ind. Murray State improved to 26-5, won its 13th straight game and capped a stretch run that saw it come from behind late in the season to overtake Belmont for the OVC regular season title and then take down the Bruins with authority in the tourney final.
The Racers broke open a close game down the stretch, outscoring Belmont 16-3 over the final seven minutes. It was a performance that should provide all the evidence one needs of just how capable Murray State will be of doing damage in the NCAA bracket in less than weeks.
The Racers have several weapons offensively, none better than Jonathan Stark, and the OVC Player of the Year scored 24 in this one. But this is also a team that can shut teams down defensively, holding opponents to 41.1% shooting on the season, and it did just that against Belmont’s potent offense late, not allowing a field goal the rest of the way after Dylan Windler’s three-pointer made it a 52-48 game with seven minutes to play.
Murray State is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. It’s almost incredible to think it had been six years since the Racers’ last trip, the historic 31-2 season when Murray was undefeated into February, climbed into the top 10 and was a six seed in the NCAA Tournament, eventually falling to Marquette in a hard-fought game in the second round.
While a six-year absence is hardly an eternity, it still was the longest gap between NCAA trips for the Racers since going 19 years from 1969 to 1988. That year’s team-which included Racers all-timer Jeff Martin and knocked off third-seeded North Carolina State in the NCAAs-began a run of 13 Big Dance appearances over 25 years, all from what has been a one-bid league that entire time.
Murray State came ever-so-close to OVC tourney titles several times in its recent mini-drought, most notably in 2013 and 2015. Belmont stonewalled both of those opportunities, though, hitting dagger shots in the final seconds to stun the Racers and clinch NCAA bids. Both were staggering blows by the OVC’s newest member, putting dents in the superiority of the league’s top program for more than three decades.
The Bruins were also the last team to defeat Murray State this season, winning the teams’ long regular season meeting back in mid-January. After a few uncharacteristically mediocre seasons though the last two years, the OVC’s perennial power-and one of the best unsung programs in the country-exorcised some proverbial demons Saturday and is back in a familiar position at the top of its league.
Side Dishes:
- Among the many conference tournaments in action on Saturday, among the highlights were Michigan and Purdue moving to the finals in the Big Ten, the Wolverines handling top seed Michigan State and the Boilers holding off upstart Penn State. The Missouri Valley furnished two dandy semifinal games, with No. 1 Loyola (Ill.) holding off Bradley and third-seeded Illinois State outlasting No. 2 Southern Illinois in overtime. And the Northeast Conference semifinals saw fourth-seeded LIU sneak by Fairleigh Dickinson 78-77 while No. 1 Wagner rolled past Robert Morris 75-64.
- The Big West regular season title-deciding game needed more than 40 minutes. UC Davis outlasted UC Irvine 90-84 in double overtime, and with it the Aggies clinched their second straight league title, a remarkable feat for a team that broke in four new starters this year. What a job by coach Jim Les. And what a bummer for the Anteaters, who led by five with less than a minute left in the first OT but couldn’t put it away, and now because of a tie for second with UC Santa Barbara slip to the 3 seed in the conference tourney.
- Eastern Washington star Bodgan Bliznyuk broke the NCAA Division I single-season record for consecutive made free throws, extending the mark to 74 in the Eagles’ 85-68 win over Northern Arizona. Bliznyuk broke the record of 73 set by Gary Buchanan of Villanova back in 2001.
- Among the top individual performances of the day, look no further than the Big Sky again, where Weber State’s Jerrick Harding erupted for 46 points in the Wildcats’ 95-92 overtime win at Montana State.
- Joseph Kilgore scored 36 points for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the Islanders clinched the final spot in the Southland tourney with a 92-87 win over Houston Baptist.
- Butler star Kelan Martin scored 35 points, but it came in defeat as the Bulldogs lost to Seton Hall 77-70.
- Kahlil Small scored 34 and also grabbed 11 rebounds in a herculean effort for Wisconsin-Green Bay, but the Phoenix’s season ended in the Horizon quarterfinals with an 87-72 loss to Wright State. Outside of tourney’s, UCLA’s Aaron Holiday scored a big 34 points in the Bruins’ 83-72 win over crosstown rival USC.
- South Dakota State star Mike Daum totaled 33 points and also added 19 rebounds, and the top-seeded Jackrabbits needed every bit of it in a 66-60 win over feisty 8 seed Western Illinois in the Summit League quarterfinals. Shep Garner scored 33 in Penn State’s 78-70 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten semifinals, and Deon Lyle also tallied 33 for Texas-San Antonio in its 79-60 win over Rice.
Today’s Menu:
- Automatic bids are on the line in the Big South, MVC, Atlantic Sun and Big Ten in that order. The Big South has 5 seed Liberty at No. 2 Radford (1 p.m. Eastern, ESPN), which looks for just its third-ever NCAA tourney bid. Also, the top two seeds meet in the Atlantic Sun with Lipscomb at Florida Gulf Coast (3 p.m., ESPN), the Bisons looking for their first NCAA bid.
- The MVC final has third-seeded Illinois State in the title game for the third time in four years, this time against No. 1 Loyola Chicago (2 p.m., CBS). Both are looking to halt lengthy NCAA Tournament droughts; the Ramblers haven’t been there since 1985, the Redbirds since 1998.
- The Big Ten final has 4 seed Michigan against No. 2 Purdue (4:30 p.m., CBS). The Wolverines gave the Boilermakers plenty of trouble in two regular season meetings even in a pair of losses.
- The Patriot League holds its semifinals with sixth-seeded Holy Cross at 2 seed Colgate and No. 5 Boston University at top seed Bucknell (3 p.m., CBSSN). BU handed the Bison one of their two league losses in the regular season, while Colgate won both meetings over the Crusaders, but both were close.
- The MAAC and Southern Conference also play their semifinal games. The MAAC bracket has been obliterated but features an old-school MAAC battle with Saint Peter’s against Iona plus a potential hot future rivalry with Connecticut schools Quinnipiac and Fairfield meeting. We’re happy to note the latter game is on ESPNU (9:30 p.m.). Also, the SoCon has a pair of outstanding semifinals with Wofford meeting UNC Greensboro and Furman against East Tennessee State. Asheville, N.C., would not be a bad place to be at today at all for those two contests.
- The CAA tourney really gets cranking with four quarterfinal games, including top seed College of Charleston against tricky Drexel. Sadly, none of these will be carried on TV, only online. We always enjoyed watching Comcast SportsNet in the past and think the network or conference (or both) are missing the boat by not showing these anymore.
- The Summit League’s remaining two quarterfinal games are played, including No. 5 North Dakota State vs. No. 4 IPFW and 6 seed Oral Roberts against No. 3 Denver. The same goes for the Horizon League, where Wisconsin-Milwaukee meets 3 seed Illinois-Chicago plus former Summit foes IUPUI and Oakland square off now in the Horizon quarters in the 4/5 game.
- Among regular season action, by far the biggie of the day is in the American where Cincinnati goes to Wichita State (Noon, CBS) with the league’s regular season title on the line.
Have a superb Sunday.
