March Madness Takeaways: UNC gets huge upset, Murray State cashes ticket

Murray State finishes off unbeaten year in OVC play

After Gonzaga fell in the WCC finale at Saint Mary’s, that left two teams without losses in league play; South Dakota State and Murray State. But while the Jackrabbits’ non-conference performance left them out of any reasonable at-large discussion, the Racers, on the other hand, always were in good shape.

After thoroughly dominating almost everyone, including the two biggest threats in the Ohio Valley (Belmont and Morehead State), Murray State came into the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the clear favorite to win. But they had no bigger fans than bubble teams, who knew that a Racer loss at any point would take a bid potentially away from them.

Murray State had an easy run in the tournament and had a 12-2 early lead on Morehead State in the title game on Saturday. But the Eagles, led by star forward Johni Broome, came back to make it a one-possession game for most of the second half. Broome ended up with 32 points and eight rebounds to keep them in it but in the end, the Racers had too much. Justice Hill had 21 points and Tevin Brown had 23 to lead the favorites to a 71-67 OVC title victory.

The game was in doubt so the possibility of a bid thief was in play. But now, Murray State is the first team to cash its ticket to the NCAA Tournament as a projected 6-8 seed. They may be a mid-major team but with Tevin Brown and KJ Williams leading the way, they’ll be a threat to make a run.