Murray State University Athletics
Racers Arrive In Columbus, Continue Preparation For No. 5 Seeded Illinois
3/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With No. 12 seeded Murray State's upcoming NCAA Tournament matchup with No. 5 seeded Illinois fast approaching, the Racers officially opened the program's 12th NCAA journey with their arrival in Columbus, Ohio earlier today.
MSU (28-5), which won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title on March 6 to earn the league's automatic bid into this week's NCAA Tournament, will take on the Big Ten Champion Fighting Illini (24-6) on Friday at 12:25 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.
The Racers touched down in the nation's 15th largest city at 12:15 p.m. local time earlier today and continued their game preparation with a crisp and spirted two-hour workout later in the afternoon before settling in for the evening at the team's hotel.
"It's good to finally get to Columbus and get settled in to our new surroundings for the weekend," said first-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin. "We had a good, solid practice session today, and we're excited about what's in front of us. We still have some work to do, but I like our attitude so far."
MSU will continue its preparation tomorrow (Thursday) with a mandatory 50-minute practice at Nationwide Arena at noon ET, followed by the pre-tournament press conference at 1 p.m. ET. Following their work and meetings with the local and national media, the Racers will continue their final prep work through the evening leading up to the Friday morning tip-off.
"Tomorrow will be an extremely busy day for our team, but it's a very, very important day for us as we prepare to face a great Illinois team," Cronin said. "We play the first game of the day on Friday, so it's going to be pivotal for our guys to have a great day of preparation tomorrow."
A full recap of the Racers' practice session and press conference at Nationwide Arena will be available tomorrow here at GoRacers.com.
The Racers' first round matchup with the Illini will be televised regionally by CBS, while the MSU Sports Network's broadcast of the game can be heard by Clicking Here.
A Shout Out To Shu and Nate:
After watching ESPN's "Around The Horn" yesterday and seeing columnist Woody Paige pick the Racers to upset Illinois in the NCAA Tournament, MSU seniors Chris Shumate and Nathan Akin sent an email to the Denver Post writer commending him for the pick. So how did Paige respond, by giving Shumate and Akin a shout out and a hello on today's national telecast.
