Belmont vs. Murray State: 2018-19 OVC title game preview, TV schedule
The top two teams in the OVC face off with an NCAA Tournament trip on the line. Will Ja Morant be able to carry Murray State over No. 1 seed Belmont?
TV schedule: Saturday, March 9, 8:00 pm ET. ESPN2
Arena: Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana
Throughout the 2018-19 season, the Ohio Valley Conference was dominated by four teams. The reigning champion Belmont, Murray State, Jacksonville State, and Austin Peay all had 22+ total wins, as well as winning at least 13 games in conference play. The quartet continued their dominance in the OVC Tournament, where they matched up against one another in the semifinals.
Top-seeded Belmont 26-4 (16-2) struggled with the Governors of Austin Peay, trailing at the half by a few points. But led by star senior Dylan Windler‘s 32 points and 21 rebounds, the Bruins outscored their opponents in the second half by 19 points to win 83-67 and advance to the finals. Senior guard Kevin McClain had 20 points, while freshman point guard Grayson Murphy dished out 11 assists in the win.
No. 2 seed Murray State 26-4 (16-2) had a much tougher time against No. 3 seed Jacksonville State, going back and forth in the final 15 minutes of the other semifinal matchup. The Gamecocks had a lead late but top-5 projected NBA Draft pick Ja Morant was too much to contain down the stretch, making key plays to lift the Racers to a 76-74 nailbiting victory.
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Like most Murray State games, Morant was the star of the game with 29 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. He did have some big-time help, including a double-double by Darnell Cowart and a pair of timely three-pointers down the stretch by Shaq Buchannan.
In the lone matchup of the season between these two, Belmont won a critical game on the road at Murray State, 79-66. Windler had just five points in the game but McClain and Nick Muszynski picked up the slack, combining for 43 total points. It was enough to overcome Morant’s 20 points and nine assists. The Racers shot just 32% from the field in the defeat.
The OVC has always been on the outside when it comes to potentially getting multiple bids for the NCAA Tournament. According to our latest Bracketology, Murray State is projected as “Next 4 Out”, meaning that they’ll need the automatic bid to go dancing. Belmont has a better overall resume with wins against UCLA, Lipscomb and Western Kentucky and is projected as a 12-seed. That doesn’t look good enough either if they lose to the Racers, as bid thieves are looking in “Championship Week”.
Besides the obvious NCAA Tournament bid on the line, this game has huge meaning for both programs. The top two players for the Bruins are both seniors, while Murray State has one of the best players in the country, and having him a part of March Madness would give great exposure for the mid-major program. Both have a great chance to win at least one game in the Big Dance, while the loser will have to ask themselves “what if” as they play in the NIT.
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Belmont has consistently been the OVC representative for the Big Dance and it’ll take a future NBA pro to take them down. Good thing Murray State has one in Morant, who’ll have one of his best performances of his college career to drag the Racers to the OVC title.