Murray State University Athletics
Racers Set To Face Morehead State In OVC Semifinals On Friday Night
3/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State and Morehead State will meet for the third time this season as they face-off in the semifinals of the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Friday at 8 p.m. CT at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
The No. 2 seeded Racers (26-5) swept the regular-season meetings with the No. 3 seeded Eagles (16-12) earning a 97-75 win in Morehead on Jan. 8 and a 90-76 decision in Murray on Jan. 31. But this time, the stakes are much higher as the winner will advance to play in the tournament championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. with a chance to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
"Those first two meetings are irrelevant now," said first-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin. "It's March and the only thing that matters now is whether you can survive and advance. Morehead State's got one of the most explosive players in the OVC in Ricky Minard, and he's a really scary guy to have to face this time of year."
The Racers have won six-straight games overall and 11 of their last 12 entering Friday's semifinal game, which will follow the No. 1 Austin Peay - No. 4 Eastern Kentucky semifinal game at 6 p.m. MSU opened the OVC Tournament with a 92-75 win over No. 7 seeded Tennessee Tech on Tuesday in Murray, and now the Racers are focused on moving one step closer to winning their 12th OVC Tourney title and earning the program's 12th NCAA Tournament bid.
"If we lose now, we go home," said Cronin. "I've been trying to prepare these guys all season long for the mental toughness it takes to survive in March. It's more about the mental toughness than it is the physical toughness, and we will be tested this weekend."
As the season winds down and "March Madness" hits full swing, Cronin likes the position his team is in entering the OVC semifinals.
"I really like where we are from an attitude standpoint," Cronin said after the Racers' win over Tech on Tuesday night. "This team has just one goal and one purpose. Our guys understand that we have good players, but a great team. They don't really care who scores, and that's the great thing about them. It's fun to coach this team because they like to share the ball and make the extra pass to the open man."
The MSU Sports Network's live broadcast of the Racers' OVC semifinal matchup against Morehead State can be heard by Clicking Here.
SERIES INFORMATION
-- Murray State vs. Morehead State
This is the 147th meeting between Murray State and Eagles with the Racers leading the all-time series 96-50...Murray has an 8-1 record against Morehead State in the OVC Tournament, including a 6-1 lead in semifinal games. The last time Morehead beat Murray in the OVC Tournament was in the 1984 tournament semifinals in Morehead, Ky.
NATIONALLY
According to the official NCAA stats, MSU was in the Top 10 nationally in three statistical categories through Monday's action. The Racers were fourth in assists per game at 18.9, sixth in field goal percentage at 49.4 percent and 10th in scoring offense at 80.8 points per game. MSU is also 15th in the nation in scoring margin at +12.1.
VICTOR NOTE
MSU senior forward Cuthbert Victor continues to rank among the nation's elite in 2003-04. Entering Tuesday's action, the 6-5 native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands was fourth in the nation in rebounding at 10.6 caroms per game, fifth in the nation in field goal percentage at 61.6 percent (167-of-271) and 49th in blocked shots with 1.8 swats per game.
With his 22-point, 13-rebound performance against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 23, Victor earned his 13th double-double of the season and the 29th of his career. Victor also became MSU's all-time leader in blocked shots on Jan. 15 against Samford and has now run his career total to 157.
OVC TOURNAMENT NOTES
-- TOURNEY RECORD: Murray State is 50-27 all-time in OVC Tournament games, which qualifies as the most wins of any team in OVC history...The next closest active member is Eastern Kentucky with 28...Also, since 1988 Murray State has compiled an OVC tourney record of 33-7.
-- TOURNEY TITLES: Murray State leads the conference with 11 OVC Tournament titles...Next up among active OVC tams are Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky with three each.
-- SEMIFINAL STREAK: Murray State has qualified for the semifinals of the tournament for 17-straight seasons. The last time MSU failed to reach the OVC semifinals was in 1987...MSU's semifinal record in the last 16 years is 13-3.
-- CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES: Murray State has played in 13 of the last 16 OVC Tournament championship games, winning nine OVC Tournament titles in that span.
