Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
Conference tournament play is a time for upsets, buzzer beaters and cinderella teams waltzing into the Big Dance.
This year, the Murray State Racers will look to fight off seven other hungry Ohio Valley Conference foes en route to its second-consecutive OVC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
With noticeable changes from the team that stormed the Ford Center a season ago, sophomore guard Ja Morant will look to lead the Racers into the NCAA tournament with another stellar performance in the OVC Tournament.
The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will begin on Wednesday, March 6, and will include the top 8 teams of the OVC. Byes will be given to the top 4 teams, while the one- and two-seeded teams will receive byes through the first two rounds.
The Belmont Bruins earned the one-seed with its win against SEMO over the weekend while Murray State clinched the two-seed with its season sweep of Austin Peay on Saturday, March 2. The Bruins earned the one-seed because of owning the tiebreaker over the Racers.
Belmont was chosen as the preseason favorite in the OVC and hasn’t disappointed despite two early season losses to Jacksonville State. The Bruins are currently first in the OVC in scoring offense, averaging 87.6 points per game. They also lead the conference in three-point field goals per game, averaging 10.6 per contest. The Bruins are also riding the longest current winning streak in the OVC, winning 13 straight and 16 of their last 17.
Murray State will look to cool down the Bruins at the Ford Center for the second year in a row as they come in as likely underdogs. The Racers are playing their best basketball as of late, putting their own winning streak together, rattling off nine straight wins and holding opponents to an OVC-best 67.7 points per game.
Murray State is coming off a huge win at home to close out the season, defeating the APSU Governors 94-83 to earn a share of its 26th regular season OVC Championship. If the Racers can get consistent scoring across their starting lineup, they’ll be a dangerous force come March.
Jacksonville State has secured its spot in the OVC Tournament, locking down the three-seed with victories over Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the last week of the season. Austin Peay suffered its fifth conference loss of the season in its final game of the year against Murray State, giving them the fourth seed.
The Austin Peay Governors have a chance to shake things up this year in the OVC Tournament as they return sophomore forward Terry Taylor with a stronger supporting cast than a year ago.
The Governors rank in the top three in scoring defense and steals while also sporting an OVC-leading turnover margin at plus-4.14. APSU can get the job done on the offensive side of the ball as well, leading the OVC in three-point field goal percentage shooting 38.5 percent from deep.
Another team worthy of praise and recognition for its season in the OVC is Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks have posted impressive wins in OVC play, defeating Belmont twice before taking down Murray State in a 88-68 road blowout. With multiple standout wins under their belt, the Gamecocks also have their share of bad losses, suffering an 18-point defeat to Eastern Kentucky as well as dropping a close one to UT Martin, each on the road.
Morehead State has locked in the fifth-seed in the tournament, defeating EKU 78-77 on Saturday, March 2, and will face eight-seed SIUE to begin the week on Wednesday, March 6.
Despite dropping its last five conference games of the season, the Eastern Illinois Panther sneak in with the six-seed. Game two on Wednesday evening will feature six-seed EIU taking on seven-seed UT Martin.
UT Martin will be an interesting sleeper in the OVC Tournament, holding a huge regular season win over Jacksonville State this season. The emergence of junior transfer guard Craig Randall II has provided a spark for the Skyhawk offense. EIU will also be capable of an upset as they took down the four-seeded APSU 85-83 on Jan. 19 in Charleston.
The OVC Tournament will begin Wednesday, March 6, and will conclude with the OVC Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
