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How I Eddie Mushed The Ohio Valley Conference
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by jamiemac 4 CommentsI filled out my first NCAA bracket when I was a high school student during the late 1980s. And during that time the league that continually busted people’s bracket was the Ohio Valley Conference. Three years in a row, the league’s entrant into the field sprung an upset as a 14-seed. Each time it blew a big enough hole in the bracket helping somebody else out to a surprise run through the rest of the field.
- 1987.: Austin Peay took down the mighty Illinois Illini out of the Big 10. At halftime of the game, ESPN announcer Dick Vitale was so sure Illinois would still avoid the upset that he promised to stand on his head if it happened. Oops. Predictably, Dickie V didnt really follow through. They instead turned the camera upside on him while he talked about the game afterwards. To his credit, I believe he did attend some APSU banquet where he did perform a hand stand. Or I made that up. 50/50. What we do know is that the APSU win was a break for the sixth seed Providence Fryars who put away the Guvs in the next round, sparking a run to the Final Four where they lost to Syracuse. It was the first big splash for a young coach named Rick Pitino. His hot shooting, three-point artist that tourney run was a kid named Billy Donovan.
- 1988: Jim Valvano and his NC State program had become synonmous with the notion that anyting can happen to the underdog when it comes to March. But in 1988 the shoe was on the other foot as Murray State took them out in Round One. The win gave second round Kansas a much easier game allowing them to outplay its seed and get into the regionals. From there, it’s history. Danny Manning and the Miracles took off and never looked back en route to the national championship.
- 1989: Middle Tennessee State, who obviously doesnt play in the OVC anymore, upended Florida State for the league’s third straight win in a 3/14 game. The Blue Raiders couldnt get by Virginia in the second round and the Cavs took advantage of the bracket break to make a run all the way to the regional finals. And, if you think I stretched this analogy out just so I could bring up Michigan’s win over the Cavs in that regional championship, then you know me too well. It was a great Michigan victory. A blowout from the opening tip as not just one, but two Wolverines dropped more than 30 on the Wahoos. One was naturally Glen Rice. The other? Sean Higgins.
Speaking of Michigan and the OVC, they got all they could handle and then some the last time they played an OVC in the tournament. It was 1986, right before this three-year run began. They matched up with Akron, a league member at the time, in a 2/15 game. This was the senior year of the Tarpley/Wade/Rellford trio. Judge Joubert was a junior, Gary Grant a sophomore and Rice was the Big 10 freshmen of the year. But the plucky Zips led the Wolverines at the half by 2 points. Michigan took over the second half, but never really shook the Zips en route to a 70-64 win. These were the days when ESPN broadcasted a lot of the first round. But, this game was played smack dab in the middle of the afternoon. We certainly didnt have cable tv in our middle school classrooms back then. We caught radio updates when we could. The halftime deficit was last update I heard until I walked into geography class where our notoriously laid back teacher had the game on the transistor. The finals seconds were ticking down and the annoucners were talking about Michigan surviving a bigtime scare. What an excruciating way to have had to follow that game. Considering Michigan lost their second round game in an upset to Iowa State, led by former UM coach Johnny Orr there was little good to remember from the 1986 tournament. One interesting factoid: the coach of that feisty Arkon team was somebody name Bobby Huggins.
After watching those consective upsets, I was hooked on the conference. But, their entry into the 1990 field was a 16-seed, and I couldn’t in good conscience pick them to win. But, they alsmot did. Murray State, led by a freshmen named Popeye Jones, took top seed Michigan State and Steve Smith into overtimes before finally losing in the last minute. I was even more sold. I wasnt going to pick an OVC team as a 16 seed, but I would be all over them in the following years. Murray dominated the league in those years with Popeye and got back into the tournament in each of his last three years. One year they may have been as high as 10-seed, if my memory serves correctly (probably not). And each time I circled them through the first round. And each year, they lost. In fact the OVC hasnt won a real NCAA Tournament game (we’re not counting the play-in games) since then. I Eddie Mush’ed the Ohio Valley Conference. They might have been my first victim, but I would need to do some more research to confirm that. It is with that cursed backdrop, the league hosts its semifinals tonight, with one team two wins away from their time at bat to stop the league’s losing streak in the NCAAs.
OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Eastern Illinois vs Murray State, 8:00 ESPN U. Lines, Murray State -13, O/U 131.5
Tennessee Tech vs Morehead State, 10:00 ESPN U. Lines, Morehead -12, O/U 140.5
I wrote Tuesday that perhaps no team in mid-majordom has more pressure on it to win its conference sectional than the Murray State Racers. Not only did they lap the field in the OVC and are the hands-down favorite to win, but the fanbase itching to return to glory. The Racers won this tournament 10 times durig a 17-year span, but have only one once in the last five years. They’ve been shutout of the NCAAa since 2006, the longest drought since that 1988 sqaud broke through with a bid and eventual upset of NC State. After a 17-1 regular season in OVC play, winning this field and returninging to the NCAAa is not the expectation in Murray, but the demand.
Last year, the Racers had the best two freshmen in the league with Ivan Aska and Isaac Miles, pacing them to a second place finish in the regular season, but a semifinal loss to APSU in the league tournament. This season, the Racers again added the top two newcomers in the league. Adding them into the mix proved bountiful as Murray dominated the league all season.
Both of this year’s newcomers are among the leading scorer’s on the team. Freshmen Isaiah Canaan comes off the bench, but still scored double figures per game. He wasnt ranked by rivals, and chose MSU over Sun Belt schools New Orleans, South Alabama and Arkansas State and CUSA Tulane. Those clubs are lower division teams in those leagues. A kid like Canaan could go there and very well be the difference in those schools climb up the charts, but he wouldnt make them a title contender alone. He goes to a place like Murry because they will play him a lot, if he wins time, and they are a conference title contender. Such is the recruiting benefit when you’re a regular a champion in any league. When he comes into the game, he can be a challenge for the defense because he offers so many different looks. He might have the quickest first step on the team. Yet he can also give the team a scoring boost from behind the arc. He’s really had the hot hand of late with seven of the last 11 games going over 11 points. For now, he’s a great sixth man. He could be a future OVC player of the year candidate. The other newcomer is BJ Jenkins, a transfer who played his first two seasons at Liberty. He’s shooting better than he ever did during his two seasons at Liberty, and he’s the Racers top assist and steals guy. All told, this Murray team is built for the future with 7 of its top nine all expected back next season.
Of course, who isnt a leading scorer for Murray State. They have five guys who score in double figures. Remarkably, none of them average more than 10.8 game. A sxith player chips in 9.5 per contest. Anyone and everyone can beat you on any given night. The addition of Jenkins at the point has been critical to keep this balanced of an offense going by identifying the different hot hand each night. The deep and balanced squad has led to some guady numbers and honors for the club. They’re up to 57th place in KenPom’s rankings. They’re the 26th best scoring offense in the land, 2nd best at field goal percentage and are in the top-20 percent of all teams at shooting the three ball. On defense, its more of the same, ranking 29th in points allowed, 13th in field goal defense and 5th in defensive rebounding. Murray is the only team in the nation to shoot the ball better than 50-percent, while holding opponents to less than 40-percent. The only other teams to have pulled that off in college basketball history have advanced to the Final Four.
All those numbers add up to Murray being significant chalk in this tournament and in tonight’s semifinal against Eastern Illinois. KenPom gives the Racers a 91-percent chance to win, calling for a 13-point win. The experts in the desert have also tabbed the Racers as a 13-point favorite. They beat the Panthers by 9 and 16 points already this season. The Panthers won 19 games this year, so they’re not a terrible team by any stretch. They too can shoot and defend the ball as they’re within the top-20 percent nationally in shooting percentage on both ends of the court. They could have the proverbial X-factor with 6/10 center Ousmane Cisse in the middle. He’s never been much a scorer, but he needs to have a big game rebounding and altering shots for EIU to win. The Panthers come in hot, on an 8-game winning streak. They havent lost since January. I dont think this will be a walk in the park for Murray tonight.
The second semifinal takes place between the 2nd seed and defending champion Morehead State and the 6th seed Tennessee Tech. Tech advanced after upsetting Austin Peay Tuesday night with a buzzer beating three-pointer. The Golden Eagles are all offense, no defense. Offensively, they drop in 75.1 points per game, good for 58th in the country. They are also in the top-10 percent nationally at shooting the ball from inside and outside the arc. On defense, it’s Ole Time. They 333rd in the nation in scoring defense and 324th in field goal percentage defense.
Those arent good numbers when facing an experienced Morehead squad that cna hurt you in many ways. They’re lead by an undersized frontcourt of Kenneth Faried, Maze Stallworth and Steve Peterson. Faried is one of the best defenders in the league. The three of them combine for nearly 40 points and 20 rebounds per game. The backcourt is led by Demonte Harper and Brandon Shingles. Harper is the team best threat from behind the arc. Shingles is one the OVC’s top assist men. Morehead beat Tech twice this year by 13 and 9 points. KenPom factors another easy win, giving the Eagles an 88-percent chance for the win. Vegas has them pegged as 12-point chalk.
If those odds hold, we might not se much drama in Nashville tonight. But, a Murray vs Morehead final would be great theater as the Eagles are the only OVC team have topped the Racers this year. Last year’s champ against this year’s prohibitive favorite. They just have to survive the upset bug this evening.
Filed under: College Basketball | 4 Comments »
Thanks for the publicity for the Racers! I am an alum and it has been a magical year, hopefully more magic is yet to come.
I have a few (ok several) corrections:
– The MSU-KU game in ’88 was not exactly “easy” for Kansas as the game was in doubt in the final minute and was in fact their closest game on the way to the championship, 61-58.
– Middle Tennessee is the Blue Raiders, not “Racers”.
– Murray got a 9 seed in 1998 only to run into the 8 seed, elite 8 bound Rhode Island.
– It’s Isaac Miles, not “Isiaih”.
– It’s “Isaiah Canaan”, not Cannon or Canaan. BTW look him up on youtube, he has a shot at an ESPY with a shot this year from midcourt from one knee.
Thanks for the publicity for the Racers! I am an alum and it has been a magical year, hopefully more magic is yet to come.
I have a few (ok several) corrections:
– The MSU-KU game in ’88 was not exactly “easy” for Kansas as the game was in doubt in the final minute and was in fact their closest game on the way to the championship, 61-58.
– Middle Tennessee is the Blue Raiders, not “Racers”.
– Murray got a 9 seed in 1998 only to run into the 8 seed, elite 8 bound Rhode Island.
– It’s Isaac Miles, not “Isiaih”.
– It’s “Isaiah Canaan”, not Cannon or Canaan. BTW look him up on youtube, he has a shot at an ESPY with a shot this year from midcourt from one knee.
Thanks David. The player names and nickname mixup is just carelessness. I appreciate you adding to the history and filling in the obvious blanks in my memory. I really did think one of the Popeye teams got a favorable seed, but now that you brought it, I remember the 8/9 game with URI you bring up. They’re only at least six years apart, you could see why I would mix them up, lol.
Glad you liked the post, thanks again for commenting and good luck to your Racers tonight against Morehead!
Thanks David. The player names and nickname mixup is just carelessness. I appreciate you adding to the history and filling in the obvious blanks in my memory. I really did think one of the Popeye teams got a favorable seed, but now that you brought it, I remember the 8/9 game with URI you bring up. They’re only at least six years apart, you could see why I would mix them up, lol.
Glad you liked the post, thanks again for commenting and good luck to your Racers tonight against Morehead!