Basketball in Kentucky has been pretty good across the board lately. From the top of the food chain in Lexington, to the bottom in places like Pikeville and Louisville, hoops in the state have experienced quite an upswing. It seems as if the 'Kentucky Effect' as Coach Cal likes to reference, is being felt throughout the Commonwealth.
Self-promotion is too. In the same week Kentucky unveiled Anthony Davis campaign posters(and witnessed the rabid fanbase turn on their fellow blue blood and take to thievery of said posters), the nation's last unbeaten team, new lil' brother Murray State decided to do some self horn-tooting of their own this week.
The Racers printed up shirts declaring their status as the last remaining team without a blemish. In textbook Greek-tragedy style, they introduced themselves to their own one-eyed monster. That monster came in the form of OVC foe Tennessee State, and that eye was fixed on that zero Murray had in the loss column.(I hope our little Popeye Jones jab wasn't factored into the cosmos reeking havoc)
You can't blame the Racers for getting a little excited with their season, and like the shirts said, their best ever start. Not too mention, the fact that the Racers have won the last 8 in a row against TSU. The cat was in the bag right? To even further that sense of immortality, MSU's star player Isaiah Canaan, drops 31 in the game. Surely, the 'Breds would add another notch on their mid-major belt.
Well, at some point in Murray, Kentucky on Thursday, that cat came out of the bag, in the form of a Tennessee State Tiger.
However, it's not like Murray just up an collapsed. The wheels didn't exactly fall completely off, and they didn't show signs of some Tiger Woods-esque fall from glory. They led at the half, and was very much in control of their own fortunes right up until the final buzzer. With 11.2 seconds remaining, TSU had the slimmest of leads, 69-68. It looked like Murray State was going to survive, and gut it out, as the Tigers turned the ball over. All they had to do was get the ball in play and get Canaan a good look to break the hearts of the Tigers. You could already see it happening in your mind. You actually expected it, you told yourself "Eh, they are down one with 11 seconds, they are going to pull it out and still win."
One problem with the fantastic finish that was already hatched in your mind: Murray State couldn't in-bound the ball. Tennessee State stole the in-bounds pass, Robert Covington was immediately fouled. Covington, who led the Tigers in scoring with 16, had a chance to ice it at the foul line to go up 3, or at least make it more comfortable. He missed both.
Here we go, a flair for the dramatic. Not quite. Canaan, who you would want with the ball, turned it over again in clutch time. He immediately fouled Kenny Moore, with about 3 seconds left to play. Moore, unlike Covington, made both of his free-throws to put the Tigers up 3.
So, here we go. Now we are going to get that 'SportsCenter' that we will see re-played all week, that allows MSU to remain the little mid-major that could. The Racers decide to draw up a long distance, floor length baseball -pass, inbound play. Canaan is about to change his name to Christian, because those dudes hit buzzer-beaters.(Watford and Laettner, to be exact)
Unfortunately, the play more resembled John Elway throwing to a wide-out than a relay on a line from Paul O'Neil. It sails out of bounds. Turnover. Ballgame. The rest is just prolonging the inevitable. Jordan Cyphers is fouled, makes one of two, and America is void of perfection in this march to the madness. 72-68 is how a dream ends.
So the best start in school history is over, but it is how the finish is carried out that really matters.
The Racers now have put themselves in a rather tight spot. Not really having a season chalked full of strong wins as far as RPI numbers go, as unfair and un-treat-them-like-Duke it may be, it is how it is.
Now that Murray State is no longer capable of running the OVC table, the often times moronic selection committee may not find themselves as attracted to the 'Horses' as they would have with that big goose egg they were building on. Their 'Bracket-Buster' match-up with St. Mary's, currently in the Top 25, now becomes almost a play-in game. As ridiculous as that sounds, it's the truth.
If Murray State takes a loss to St. Mary's, regardless of how good or bad they look in doing so, they will more than likely have to at least ward off any other loses, and put themselves in the OVC Championship game, or their bubble will get busted. They may even have to win the OVC just to get in with an automatic qualifier tag, if they drop the game to St. Mary's.
Now, I find it hard to keep them out, even if they falter against SMC, and even yet still not winning the OVC Tourney. They may not have had a season full of powerhouse wins, but they did win them all until Thursday. I say they deserve a shot at the very least to play in March, just based on what they did up until now.
Aside from SMC, they have 4 OVC regular season games, and if they just completely implode and lose all of them, plus get bounced in the 1st conference tournament game, they would still finish the season with only 7 loses. I can say with almost certainty, they won't do that. That would be the only thing that I would even consider in not giving them a bid, if that scenario worked out that way. It won't.
Murray State get's in. Unfortunately, I am not on the selection committee, and let's not rule out a slap in the face NIT bid, if they don't win against SMC or the OVC Tournament. The Big East and ACC both just got boners.
Self-promotion is too. In the same week Kentucky unveiled Anthony Davis campaign posters(and witnessed the rabid fanbase turn on their fellow blue blood and take to thievery of said posters), the nation's last unbeaten team, new lil' brother Murray State decided to do some self horn-tooting of their own this week.
The Racers printed up shirts declaring their status as the last remaining team without a blemish. In textbook Greek-tragedy style, they introduced themselves to their own one-eyed monster. That monster came in the form of OVC foe Tennessee State, and that eye was fixed on that zero Murray had in the loss column.(I hope our little Popeye Jones jab wasn't factored into the cosmos reeking havoc)
You can't blame the Racers for getting a little excited with their season, and like the shirts said, their best ever start. Not too mention, the fact that the Racers have won the last 8 in a row against TSU. The cat was in the bag right? To even further that sense of immortality, MSU's star player Isaiah Canaan, drops 31 in the game. Surely, the 'Breds would add another notch on their mid-major belt.
Well, at some point in Murray, Kentucky on Thursday, that cat came out of the bag, in the form of a Tennessee State Tiger.
However, it's not like Murray just up an collapsed. The wheels didn't exactly fall completely off, and they didn't show signs of some Tiger Woods-esque fall from glory. They led at the half, and was very much in control of their own fortunes right up until the final buzzer. With 11.2 seconds remaining, TSU had the slimmest of leads, 69-68. It looked like Murray State was going to survive, and gut it out, as the Tigers turned the ball over. All they had to do was get the ball in play and get Canaan a good look to break the hearts of the Tigers. You could already see it happening in your mind. You actually expected it, you told yourself "Eh, they are down one with 11 seconds, they are going to pull it out and still win."
One problem with the fantastic finish that was already hatched in your mind: Murray State couldn't in-bound the ball. Tennessee State stole the in-bounds pass, Robert Covington was immediately fouled. Covington, who led the Tigers in scoring with 16, had a chance to ice it at the foul line to go up 3, or at least make it more comfortable. He missed both.
Here we go, a flair for the dramatic. Not quite. Canaan, who you would want with the ball, turned it over again in clutch time. He immediately fouled Kenny Moore, with about 3 seconds left to play. Moore, unlike Covington, made both of his free-throws to put the Tigers up 3.
So, here we go. Now we are going to get that 'SportsCenter' that we will see re-played all week, that allows MSU to remain the little mid-major that could. The Racers decide to draw up a long distance, floor length baseball -pass, inbound play. Canaan is about to change his name to Christian, because those dudes hit buzzer-beaters.(Watford and Laettner, to be exact)
Unfortunately, the play more resembled John Elway throwing to a wide-out than a relay on a line from Paul O'Neil. It sails out of bounds. Turnover. Ballgame. The rest is just prolonging the inevitable. Jordan Cyphers is fouled, makes one of two, and America is void of perfection in this march to the madness. 72-68 is how a dream ends.
So the best start in school history is over, but it is how the finish is carried out that really matters.
The Racers now have put themselves in a rather tight spot. Not really having a season chalked full of strong wins as far as RPI numbers go, as unfair and un-treat-them-like-Duke it may be, it is how it is.
Now that Murray State is no longer capable of running the OVC table, the often times moronic selection committee may not find themselves as attracted to the 'Horses' as they would have with that big goose egg they were building on. Their 'Bracket-Buster' match-up with St. Mary's, currently in the Top 25, now becomes almost a play-in game. As ridiculous as that sounds, it's the truth.
If Murray State takes a loss to St. Mary's, regardless of how good or bad they look in doing so, they will more than likely have to at least ward off any other loses, and put themselves in the OVC Championship game, or their bubble will get busted. They may even have to win the OVC just to get in with an automatic qualifier tag, if they drop the game to St. Mary's.
Now, I find it hard to keep them out, even if they falter against SMC, and even yet still not winning the OVC Tourney. They may not have had a season full of powerhouse wins, but they did win them all until Thursday. I say they deserve a shot at the very least to play in March, just based on what they did up until now.
Aside from SMC, they have 4 OVC regular season games, and if they just completely implode and lose all of them, plus get bounced in the 1st conference tournament game, they would still finish the season with only 7 loses. I can say with almost certainty, they won't do that. That would be the only thing that I would even consider in not giving them a bid, if that scenario worked out that way. It won't.
Murray State get's in. Unfortunately, I am not on the selection committee, and let's not rule out a slap in the face NIT bid, if they don't win against SMC or the OVC Tournament. The Big East and ACC both just got boners.
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