Semifinal #2: Murray State Racers 81, Eastern Kentucky Colonels 73
For much of the week leading up to Murray State's semifinal tilt on Friday, I wondered if Murray's fans would be as complacent as the team was for most of the season. Would they, too, realize that "this isn't last year" and not make the two-hour trek to Nashville, just to potentially see this team lose in their first game? Would they decide that the effort wasn't worth it to see a team going through the motions, unable to really flip the switch when it counted most?
Nope. Murray's fans showed up Friday night, and so did their Racers. By the time the first semifinal between Belmont and TSU was at halftime, Murray State's allotment of floor seats was completely full of yellow and blue, with about half of the lower bowl and much of the upper bowl of Municipal Auditorium dotted in the Racer colors as well. By the time the game with EKU tipped off, the poor Colonels could only wonder if this OVC semifinal was actually being played at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. And by the time Ed Daniel dunked for Murray's first bucket of the game, the Racer crowd was off and running.
An electric atmosphere helped produce by far the best game of this OVC Tournament thus far. Murray didn't blow out the Colonels, not by a long shot. But the talented, relentless Racers team that ran teams out of the gym last year showed their true colors in a big way on Friday night, out-hustling and out-shooting a gritty EKU team that prides themselves on out-hustling and out-shooting their opponents. Murray's decided advantage going into the game was on the boards, but when Ed Daniel picked up his second foul just 9 minutes into the game, that advantage was gone. When Daniel re-entered for the second half, he quickly picked up two more fouls (iffy calls at best, both of them) and went to the bench for another ten minutes. Murray played most of this game without their leading rebounder and 2nd best scorer.
Did it matter? Not with Isaiah Canaan having "the look." You know that look that really, really good shooters get, when they decide "I'm making this shot, I'm taking over this game and there's nothing you can do about it"? Yeah, Canaan had THAT look tonight. He dunked in transition after steals, about blowing the roof off the Municipal Auditorium in the process. He drove the baseline for layups. And of course, he nailed a few threes right in the face of EKU's Mike DiNunno (much to the delight of the Racer faithful). 29 total points on the night were the biggest 29 points of Isaiah Canaan's season, and the best player in the conference the last 3 years gets to give it one more shot today against Belmont.
Would you bet against Murray? If Isaiah Canaan has that look in his eye again, it will be hard to stop them.
Semifinal #1: Belmont Bruins 82, Tennessee State Tigers 73
Belmont head coach Rick Byrd is a really, really good coach -- OVC Coach of the Year, in fact. He's also a dead ringer for a really, really good basketball announcer -- Mike Breen. Can you tell which is which? I was a bit shocked not to hear Byrd scream 6 times ... though I'm sure he was thinking it:
"Ian Clark for 3 ... BANG!!!"
Belmont's best player took a long time to get going in this one, and the more athletic Tigers took advantage early. TSU was outnumbered in the fan department at least 2-to-1, but that didn't stop them from cruising out to an early 21-12 lead and making it look as if a second straight Murray-TSU final could be afoot. Ian Clark picked up two early fouls and sat for much of the first half, but Kerron Johnson picked up the slack in the scoring department to put Belmont up three at the half.
Then Clark took over. The best three-point shooter in the conference was cold even when he was on the floor in the first half -- 0-for-2 -- and the Bruins as a team couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from beyond the arc -- 0-for-10. But when you have a shooter with range just inside halfcourt, it's very hard to keep him under wraps for long. TSU couldn't seem to cover Clark in either the halfcourt or in transition -- twice, Clark had numbers on a fast break, only to pull up and bury a deep 3. While Robert Covington matched Clark with 3s of his own for a while, TSU dug too deep of a hole (21 turnovers didn't help) to find a way to pull off the upset.
Day 4 (Final) Preview
6:00 -- #1 Belmont Bruins vs. #2 Murray State Racers (ESPN2)
Belmont wins if:
1) They clean up the offensive glass. Eastern Kentucky, the worst rebounding team in the conference, held on against Murray while Ed Daniel was out, thanks in large part to three offensive rebounds and putbacks for 6'8" Eric Stutz. Belmont has a little more size to match up with Daniel and Garrett down low, but expect the Racers to win the overall battle of the boards (especially if Daniel avoids foul trouble). If the Bruins can clean up 75-80% of Murray misses, then they can get their excellent transition offense going and keep Murray on their heels.
2) They start hot. Murray can shoot you out of the gym if you let them, but so can the Bruins. Belmont weathered their 0-for-10 start from beyond the arc against TSU because the Tigers turned it over at such an alarming rate. The Bruins won't be so lucky against the Racers. Look for Clark to try to get going early, with Kerron Johnson and J.J. Mann also serving as deep threats.
3) Their fans bring it. Murray's fans were by far the most impressive in Friday's semifinal, outnumbering EKU by about a 5-to-1 margin. Belmont brought a ton against TSU, but they need to fill out their half of Municipal Auditorium tonight. If they don't, it will have the look of a Murray home game again.
Murray State wins if:
1) Canaan has "the look." Isaiah Canaan may have shared OVC Player of the Year honors with Clark, but he's the best player in the conference when he has everything clicking. Belmont will probably use Kerron Johnson to guard Canaan, giving them a bit more size than EKU did with 5'11" Mike DiNunno. Canaan proved yesterday that he can score in such a variety of different ways -- if he has the stepback, the baseline drive, and the fast break all working tonight, he could find his way to another 30 points and an NCAA bid for the Racers.
2) Canaan gets help. When Stacy Wilson and Dexter Fields are spreading the floor and hitting their corner 3s, the Racers are unstoppable. Belmont has to stay disciplined on these shooters and not double up too often on Daniel inside. Murray loves working it through the post and then to the corner with the extra pass.
3) The hair is on fire. Ed Daniel exerted his will in limited action against EKU, throwing down the game's first five points and grabbing a critical defensive rebound away from Stutz in the closing minutes. If Daniel gets to double figures in scoring, it's because he's muscling away offensive rebounds and getting to the line. Belmont needs to keep this to a perimeter game, because the Racers have the decided advantage down low.
And the winner is ...
I picked Belmont in my conference and OVC tourney previews. I picked Murray to lose to the Colonels yesterday. But I think, somehow, that these Racers have finally flipped that switch. If they can win handily without Ed Daniel, then they're even that much more dangerous with him. After seeing the Racers last night, I'm changing my pick -- I'll take Murray State to cut down the nets tonight and secure their third NCAA berth in four years.
Tune back in tomorrow for a full tournament recap and analysis of the OVC champion's chances in the NCAA tournament.
--The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan with a sparse history of truly great sports atmospheres (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhard592.
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