The 2017 Ohio Valley Tournament title game saw Jacksonville State and UT Martin square off with an automatic bid on the line.
Neither Jacksonville State nor UT-Martin have ever made the NCAA Tournament. That all changed when JSU took down Belmont and UT Martin dispatched Murray State in the Ohio Valley Tournament semis. It gave fans a great game between two underdogs, however, one team had to win.
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JSU jumped out to an early lead thanks to five threes in the first half. They held UTM to just 20 percent from deep and went into the break up 36-23. The second half started differently as Martin turned up the intensity and hit shots to make the game competitive. However, the Skyhawks could never get into their ideal rhythm; cold outside shooting doomed UTM. The Gamecocks will represent the OVC straight out of Jacksonville, Alabama after a 66-55 conference championship victory.
JSU is a team that is maybe better than the numbers would suggest. They are far from an offensive powerhouse but have reached this point with a plodding, grinding style and solid shooting. Their team shooting splits are 46/37/71 and they have a top 75 defense purely in terms of points per game.
Malcolm Drumwright leads the team with 12.5 points, but five players average at least 8.5 per game. Whomever JSU faces will have to not only shut down a balanced scoring core but contend with an inside duo of Norbertas Giga and Christian Cunningham. The two forwards combine for nearly 19 points, 17 boards and three blocks per game. The team also has an experienced head coach in former Western Kentucky head man Roy Harper.
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JSU deserves tons of credit. They will go to their first NCAA Tournament ever after winning just eight games last season and opening the season projected to finish last in the OVC East. Coach Harper has engineered a magical season that isn’t ready to end just yet. They will be an interesting draw on Selection Sunday.