Racers Claim 16th OVC Tournament Championship

Saturday, March 3

Evansville, Ind.

7 p.m.

Murray State

26-5

Belmont

24-9

Belmont

Murray State

Photo by: Tab Brockman

3/3/2018 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery (Tab Brockman)Photo Gallery (Darren Dedman)Photo Gallery (Dave Winder)

The Murray State Racers earned their first trip to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament with a 68-51 victory Saturday over the Belmont Bruins to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

The Racers (26-5) won for the 13^th straight time this season (now the longest in the nation after Michigan State lost to Michigan in the Big 10 Tournament) and take their first OVC title since 2012. MSU has won 16 OVC Tournaments and will make a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the same 16^th time. It's the first NCAA trip for Murray State head coach Matt McMahon who is now 59-36 in his third season with the Racers.

Trailing 41-37 with 14:44 remaining, the Racers finally got their offensive motor revved up and it turned out to be a game-changer.

Having combined for 0-of-9 from the 3-point line to start the game, Jonathan Stark and Terrell Miller hit their first of the game at the 9:38 mark and at the 5:52 mark. After starting the day 2-of-17 from the 3-point line, the Racers hit 7-of-14 in the final 16 minutes of the game. By the time Shaq Buchanan hit two threes, the Racers had a 68-49 lead with 2:24 left. MSU outscored Belmont 39-19 in the second half by hitting 13-of-30 from the field and holding the Bruins to 7-of-25. MSU hit seven 3-pointers in the second half and the Bruins only managed 1-of-11.

The Racers' second half surge was quite a contrast from the first half when they were 2-of-15 from the 3-point line and went into the intermission down 32-29.

In the first staging of the OVC Tournament at the Ford Center, Racer Nation came out in droves and turned the semifinals on Friday and the Saturday championship into an amazing atmosphere. The championship attendance was listed at 4,280.

When the trophy and awards were handed out after the game and the nets were cut down, the Racers saw OVC Regular Season MVP, Jonathan Stark, get named OVC Tournament MVP after he scored 46 points in two days. Terrell Miller, Jr., and Ja Morant were also named to the OVC All-Tournament Team. Stark scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half, while Morant scored 15 points with 11 each coming from Miller and Buchanan.

The Racers ended the day outscoring Belmont 9-6 from the 3-point line and they won the rebound stat 43-35. MSU only committed six turnovers and forced the Bruins into 13.

Game Notes
Stark, Morant and Miller were joined on the OVC All-Tournament team by Belmont's Austin Luke and Amanze Egekeze.

Stark is MSU's 15^th OVC Tournament MVP win coming from 12 different players. The last MSU winner was Donte Poole in 2012.

MSU OVC TOURNAMENT MVP SELECTIONS
1981 Lamont Sleets So.
1988 Jeff Martin Jr.
1990 Popeye Jones So.
1991 Popeye Jones Jr.
1992 Popeye Jones Sr.
1995 Marcus Brown Jr.
1997 Chad Townsend Jr.
1998 Chad Townsend Sr.
1999 Aubrey Reese Jr.
2002 Justin Burdine Sr.
2004 Cuthbert Victor Sr.
2006 Pearson Griffi th Sr.
2010 Isaiah Canaan Fr.
2012 Donte Poole Sr.
2018 Jonathan Stark Sr.
*The MVP award began in 1975

After losing heartbreaking last second buzzer shots to Belmont in the 2013 and 2015 title games, the Racers broke a four-game losing streak to the Bruins and won for the first time against them in the OVC Tournament.

Since seeding was started in 1986, this event marked the 16^th time MSU was the No. 1 seed and the 10^th time they've won the title from the No. 1 seed.

Terrell Miller's 11 points against Belmont means he has 985 in his two years at MSU. If Miller can reach 1,000 points, he'll become the 21st MSU player with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Miller grabbed 18 rebounds in the game, the most for a Racer since Jarvis Williams had 18 against Southeast Missouri in 2014.

As the first team to punch a ticket into the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Racers and their fans will look forward to Sunday (March 11) when the field for the tournament will be announced. Murray State fans will want to stay tuned to all of MSU Athletics social media platforms and GoRacers.com for news about a gathering at the CFSB Center for NCAA Selection Sunday.

Here are the first round tournament sites and the additional rounds as the event eventually moves to the Final Four in San Antonio.

2018 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Opening Round and second round - March 15-18
Pittsburgh, Pa.       PPG Paints Arena
Host-Duquesne

Wichita, Kan. Intrust Bank Arena
Host-Missouri Valley Conference

Dallas, Texas American Airlines Arena
Host-Big 12 Conference

Boise, Idaho   Taco Bell Arena
Host-Boise State

Charlotte, N.C.       Time Warner Arena
Host-UNCC

Detroit, Mich. Detroit Arena
Host-Detroit Mercy

Nashville, Tenn.      Bridgestone Arena
Host-Ohio Valley

San Diego, Calif.     Viejas Arena
Host-San Diego State

Regional Round - March 22-25
Atlanta, Ga.   Phillips Arena
Host-Georgia Tech

Los Angeles, Calif.   Staples Center
Host-Pepperdine

Boston, Mass. TD Garden
Host-Boston College

Omaha, Neb.    CenturyLink Center
Host-Creighton

Final Four - March 31 - April 2
San Antonio, Texas - Alamo Dome