Racers Ready To Chase Postseason Glory At OVC Tournament

Game 31 - OVC Tournament - Semifinal - Ford Center - Evansville, Ind. - March 6, 2020 - 9 p.m.

(2 seed) MURRAY STATE RACERS (22-8, 15-3 OVC Co-Champions)
Head Coach: Matt McMahon (Appalachian State, 2000)
Career Record: 109-50 (5th season) • At MUR: Same • OVC: 65-21

Game Information - Date-Time: March 6, 2020, 9 p.m. CT Site: Evansville, Ind. Arena: Ford Center TV: ESPNU Alex Perlman & Sydney Johnson Radio: Racer Radio - WFGE 103.7 FM - Neal Bradley & Kenny Roth Web Streaming: Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com Video: Watch ESPN Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com Twitter: @MSURacers @RacersHoops @RacerDave23

MSU & The OVC Tournament
1st Appearance: 1949, Lost EKU 73-41 Louisville Gardens
Total Tournaments: 2020's event marks the 57th time it has been played and 46th straight year it has been held
Tournament Not Held: No OVC Tournament was contested between 1955-1964 and 1967-1975.
MSU Titles: 17 OVC Tournament titles: 1951, 1964, 1988, 1990,1991,1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018, 2019
Last MSU Titles: 2018, MSU defeated BEL 68-51 & 2019, MSU defeated BEL 77-65

Racers Seek OVC Glory In Evansville
The Murray State Racers (22-8) try for their third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship this week when they go into the event at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana as the No. 2 seed and play a Friday night 9 p.m. semifinal. The Racers will have to wait until late Thursday to learn of their semifinal opponent as they will get one of three teams. On Wednesday, No. 6 Eastern Illinois plays No. 7 Jacksonville State with the winner meeting Austin Peay, the No. 3 seed, Thursday. The Racers face the team that comes from that trio of teams.

The Racers are coming off a final week of the regular season in which they needed a pair of home wins to get at least a share of the OVC title and they accomplished their mission. MSU defeated Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 27) 74-62 and then APSU (Feb. 29) 75-61 to secure a Co-championship with Belmont. It marks the third-straight title for Racers's head coach Matt McMahon, who joins only two other MSU coaches that won at least three OVC titles in a row. The first was Coach Steve Newton from 1988-91 with four consecutive and Coach Mark Gottfried who had three in a row from 1996-98.

McMahon's last three MSU teams have been at the top of the OVC with three regular season titles and two OVC Tournament titles as they look for a third title this week in Evansville. McMahon's last three Murray State teams are a combined 76-19 (.800) overall and 47-7 (.870) in OVC games. If McMahon's team wins this week in Evansville, it will mark the first OVC team to win the tournament in three-straight years since Coach E.A. Diddle's Western Kentucky teams did it from 1952-54. Twice before, the Racers have won three in a row, but never by the same coach. Coach Newton and Scott Edgar combined to win three from 1990-92 and Gottfried teamed with Tevester Anderson to win three from 1997-98.

Brown & Williams - MSU's Dynamic Duo
MSU's Tevin Brown and KJ Williams are certainly playing super late in the season. In the final week of the regular season, when the Racers faced a pair of must-win games, this dynamic sophomore duo came through in a big way. In MSU's title-clinching win over APSU, Williams had his sixth double-double of the season and Brown his 19th game this season as the leading MSU scorer. Brown is the only player in the OVC that scored 500 points and dished out 100 assists this season. The Racers are far from a two-man team. Jaiveon Eaves gives the Racers a viable third scorer and he enters the OVC Tournament hitting 13 of his last 25 3-point attempts.

Ford Center Clear Bag Policy
The Ford Center wants to remind fans of the list of prohibited items and Clear Bag Policy.

2020 OVC Tournament - Ford Center - Evansville, Indiana - March 4-7
First Round: Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Game 1: #5 Tennessee State vs. #8 Morehead State, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2: #6 Eastern Illinois vs. #7 Jacksonville State, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 5, 2020
Game 3: #4 Eastern Kentucky vs. Winner of Game 1, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 4: #3 Austin Peay vs. Winner of Game 2, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Semifinals: Friday, March 6, 2020
Game 5: #1 Belmont vs. Winner of Game 3, 7:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 6: #2 Murray State vs. Winner of Game 4, 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU)

Championship: Saturday, March 7, 2020
Game 7: Semifinal Winners, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Racers Ready To Chase Postseason Glory At OVC Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Tevin Brown

Jaiveon Eaves

KJ Williams

Murray State University Athletics