GAME NOTES | LIVE AUDIO
Per contractual agreements, there will not be an OVC.TV video stream for this game. Please tune into ESPNU to watch the game.
MURRAY, Ky.--This is it, and it couldn’t have been scripted any better. For the title, under the TV lights.
Morehead State travels to Murray State Thursday for a 9:05 p.m. tip-off on ESPNU. The winner secures the top seed for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and at least a share of the OVC regular season title. It’s a matchup that features the last two OVC Tournament winners and the top two preseason teams. It’s also a rematch of last year’s title game.
The Eagles (21-8; 12-4 OVC) won the first matchup this season, capturing a 75-65 win in Morehead. That game, however, was at the beginning of December, and both teams have had their share of ups and downs since that game. Morehead State has won nine straight, including a win at Indiana State in the ESPNU Bracketbuster event. Murray also won its Bracketbuster game, blowing the doors off Evansville Saturday. The Racers lost to SEMO, but that was their only loss in their last 10 games.
The last two years the teams split the regular season matchups, with the home team winning each of those games. Murray won the rubber match last year in the OVC championship game.
The NCAA’s modern-era rebound king Kenneth Faried leads Morehead State with 14.2 rebounds and 17.5 points per game. Demonte Harper and Terrance Hill each average in double digits as well, tallying 15.6 and 10.0 points per game respectively.
Murray State (21-7; 12-4 OVC) also has three players that average double-digit scoring. Isaiah Canaan tallies 12.2 points per game. B.J. Jenkins and Isacc Miles score 10.5 and 10.3 points per game respectively. Ivan Aska is the Racers’ rebounding leader at 5.4 per game.
Following Thursday, the Eagles face UT Martin to close out the regular season, and Murray hosts EKU.
