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NASHVILLE -- The third-seeded Morehead State men’s basketball team (18-14) squares off with second-seeded Tennessee State (19-11) in the semifinal round of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Friday at approximately 9 p.m. ET.
The game will follow the first semifinal, which features top-seeded Murray State and fourth-seeded Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m. All OVC Tournament contests are being played during a four-day span at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
MSU’s semifinal will be webcast on ESPN3.com and broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network, which includes WIVY-96.3 FM, MSPR-90.3 FM and MSUEagles.com. It will also be shown tape-delayed on ESPNU at 1:30 a.m.
Morehead State has played in each of the past three conference tournament championship games. MSU won the league tournament in 2009 and 2011 en route to automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles posted a 68-49 win over Austin Peay in last year’s semifinal and a 80-73 victory over Tennessee Tech in the title game. Demonte Harper averaged 26.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the tournament, while first-round NBA Draft pick Kenneth Faried averaged 18.0 points, 18.0 boards and 6.5 blocks.
MSU has won nine of its past 12 affairs, with victories over UT Martin, Norfolk State, Tennessee Tech, Eastern Illinois (twice), Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, SIU Edwardsville and Jacksonville State. The Eagles have not lost back-to-back tilts in nearly two months.
During Donnie Tyndall’s six years as head coach at MSU, the Eagles rank first in the Ohio Valley Conference in tournament winning percentage (.727, 8-3), second in OVC home winning percentage (.836, 46-9) and third in OVC winning percentage (.636, 70-40).
Tyndall owns a 114-84 record (.576) in six seasons at Morehead State and a 144-89 mark (.618) in seven years in charge of a college basketball program.
The Eagles suffered a 77-72 setback at Tennessee State on Jan. 11, in the only regular-season game between the two schools this season.
TSU has won nine of its last 10 affairs, with its only loss coming to #9/12 Murray State.
