Murray State University Athletics
Racers Open OVC Schedule This Week With The 'Death Valley' Road Swing
1/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
After a successful pre-conference run and a 10-2 record, the Murray State Racers and first-year head coach Mick Cronin will open their Ohio Valley Conference slate this week on the league's "Death Valley" swing to Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.
The Racers, who enter OVC play as the league's highest ranked squad in the Sagarin Ratings (33rd) and the RPI (47th according to CBS Sportsline.com) through Monday's action, will open the conference schedule against the defending co-champion Morehead State Eagles (5-6) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Ellis T. Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.
MSU will close out the road swing, which has been referred to as "Death Valley" by many around the OVC for several years, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT against EKU (5-6) at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky.
The Racers enter league play with the OVC's most impressive non-conference resume sporting the league's Top-3 non-conference wins in terms of RPI after knocking off Southern Illinois (No. 51), Southern Miss (No. 87) and Delaware State (No. 110). MSU's only losses are at nationally-ranked Louisville and undefeated and highly-ranked Pittsburgh.
"I think 10-2 is the best record this team could possibly have right now," Cronin said. "We have a bunch of seniors on this team and their goals are to win the OVC regular-season and tournament championships. To do that, it's important that we start off on the right foot and find a way to win on the road. We'll find out where we stand in this weekend."
The opener at Morehead will be a tough test for the Racers as they open conference play. The Eagles feature the OVC's top two scorers in Chez Marks and reigning OVC Player of the Year Ricky Minard. Marks leads the league at 21.3 points per game followed by Minard at 20.5 points per game, and slowing down the tandem will be a key for the Racers.
"We will need a strong defensive effort to find a way to shut those two players down," Cronin said. "To win on the road, you've got to play strong defense. That has to be our mentality this weekend and it'll be a tough test for us."
The Racers have faced a number of different tests through the first 12 games, and they've learned to win against a number of different styles of play against several tough teams.
"We've got an RPI in the 40's right now, and we've learned how to work and how to play in order to win with our style of play," Cronin said. "We've faced some teams that wanted to push the tempo with us and try to run, and we've seen some teams that wanted to slow it down and play a half-court game. So far, we've been able to settle into our style of play against most of our competition, and I think it's prepared us for what we'll see in the OVC."
The MSU Sports Network's live broadcast of the games at Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky can be heard here at GoRacers.com by Clicking Here.
NATIONALLY: Through Monday's action, MSU ranks in the Top-30 nationally in three categories. The Racers are 23rd in assists at 18.1 per game, 24th in field goal percentage (48.7%) and 30th in scoring offense at 80.3 points per game.
VICTOR NOTE: MSU senior forward Cuthbert Victor continues to make a name for himself around the nation. The 6-5 native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands is fifth in the nation in rebounding entering Tuesday's play pulling down 11.1 caroms per contest and sits sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 66.9 percent on 81-of-121 shooting.
