“We goin’ dancin’. We goin’ dancin’.”
Racer fans filled Bridgestone Arenas with chanting as Murray State tallied a program-best 30 wins in a single season, claiming the title of OVC Champions in a 62-51 win over Morehead State Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
The victory signified the team's 14th championship title and sends the Head Coach Billy Kennedy and his Racers to the NCAA tournament, which kicks off March 16.
“I’m very humbled to be the head coach of Murray State and to be representing a great community and a great basketball tradition,” Kennedy said. “We had some tremendous players. Our guys stepped up and believed in each other when things weren’t going well offensively for us. We did a great job and shut them down. We knew we would make shots and we did.”
Getting to the conference's final game proved no easy task for the Racers who battled Eastern Illinois Friday, edging over the Panthers in a four-point victory.
Murray State and Morehead State, who have held the top two spots in the OVC all season met on the hardwood to see who would prove best, after splitting the regular season home-away series.
Murray State defeated Morehead State by 30 points at the RSEC Dec. 5. But when the Racers traveled to the valley Feb. 25, the Eagles pulled out with a 70-65 win.
“It definitely added a little more spice into this game,” senior center Tony Easley said. “They matchup with us so well. It’s always an exciting game with those guys. It’s like a mini rivalry. It definitely added a little more flavor to this game. We wanted our revenge. We really put into this game that we were going to give them our best shot and we knocked them out.”
While Easley and senior forward Danero Thomas led the team emotionally, it was freshman guard Isaiah Canaan who earned the title of All-Tournament MVP.
Canaan finished the game leading the Racers with 16 points, sinking three long balls. In the two regular season games against the Eagles, he tallied a combined 13 points.
“It’s a big honor to be getting this MVP over a great group of seniors that we have on our team and some of the other veterans,” Canaan said. “But dedication and sacrifice everyday in practice and the offseason pays off. Just like they say, hard work pays off. And I believe in that. And we showcased it (Saturday).”
The first half was a defensive back-and-forth struggle as the lead changed and each team responded offensively to the others’ scoring, send the teams to the locker rooms tied at 24.
The statistics were almost identical, with Murray State shooting 31.8 percent and Morehead State shooting 32.2 percent from the field.
“Did I look like I panicked,” Kennedy said. “No, (not) when you’ve got a good team and you’ve got good players. I felt confident all along we would come out victorious. I believed in these guys and they’ve put in the hard work and the effort and the unselfishness. I wanted to get 10 guys the chance to play because I thought all those guys deserved the chance to play and help us. That was different than the night before and it proved to be the strength of our team - the depth we have, and the unselfishness we have.”
The beginning of the second half was much the same as both teams rallied for the win.
The Racers picked up the momentum, however, with three-pointers by Canaan and junior guard Isacc Miles and a couple of dunks from Easley.
With 10:15 left on the clock, Miles sank one from behind the arc, giving Murray State a 34-31 lead, which the Eagles never overturned, giving the Racers an 11-point win and an NCAA tournament berth.
“We just came out there in the second half with a different attitude,” Thomas said. “I think we did a great job forcing turnovers and putting the ball up and getting easy buckets.”
The Racers were able to hold Morehead State’s leading scorer Kenneth Faried to 10 points, while Damonte Harper tallied 20 points for the Eagles.
Canaan was the only Murray State player to finish with double-digit scoring, but the balanced offense was present once again, with seven more Racers adding points to the board.
Kennedy said the team is happy with the win, but has even more goals.
“When you get in the tournament, it’s march madness,” Kennedy said. “We’re going enjoy this. We’ve got two weeks to talk about that. It’ll be fun to talk about. We’re going in preparing to try and win a game. It’s all about matchups in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully we’ll play somebody we match up against. We’ve had a great season. Now we’re just trying to get extra.”
Miles said the team is ready to play and has what it takes to get a first-round victory.
“I think every D-1 player comes in to play college basketball to win a national championship,” Miles said. “So I think we’re not satisfied with OVC championship. We’re trying to win that national championship. I think we can compete with anybody because around this time it’s a matter of if you can play or not. It’s not big schools. It’s not small schools. It’s who wants it more.”
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