GAME NOTES
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Morehead State has advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The Eagles cruised past a depleted Jacksonville State team, 87-54 on Tuesday to earn a trip to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
MSU’s semifinal opponent is sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech, upset winners over #3 Austin Peay on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles finished the regular season at 15-16, 8-10 in OVC play and evened their record at .500 with the win Tuesday night. MSU and TTU will tip-off Friday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Kevin Murphy, who hit the game-winner against Austin Peay, leads TTU with 15.7 points per game. A high-octane team offensively, the Golden Eagles have two other players averaging double-figure scoring, Frank Davis (13.8) and Elijah Muhammad (12.0). Alfred Jones is their leading rebounder. They average 75.1 points per game, the second-highest scoring team in the OVC. The flip side of that is that TTU allows the most points per game in the league at 77.4.
Should Morehead State win Friday, it will draw the winner of the other semifinal between fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois and top seed Murray State. The Eagles split the season series with both teams, losing on the road both times and winning at home.
EIU stepped up in the final three weeks of the regular season, including handing Morehead State a heartbreaking loss on ESPNU. The Panthers finished the regular season at 18-11 overall and 11-7 in conference and then picked up a win over #5 Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday. Tyler Laser leads EIU with 14.1 points per game average and Jeremy Granger is behind him at 10.4 points per game. Ousmane Cisse pulls down 6.7 boards per game.
Murray State, who had not stumbled in the OVC until they came to Morehead, is the team to beat. The Racers cruised past TSU on Tuesday after finishing the regular season at 27-4 and 17-1 in the OVC. The deepest and most balanced team in the league, Murray has five players that average just over 10 points per game and are the top offensive and defensive team in the OVC.
