Morehead State at Eastern Kentucky, 9:00 PM Eastern, ESPNU
The Murray State Racers currently sit at 11-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play, with a 3.5 game lead in the West Division standings. Barring an absolute collapse, they should cruise to the #1 seed in the OVC tournament, earning a double bye into the semifinal round and placing them only two wins away from their sixth OVC tournament title and NCAA bid in the last 14 years. While the Racers are clearly the class of the conference this year, a battle is brewing in the East Division. The Ohio Valley Conference gives its second bye to the tournament semifinals to the second best of the two division winners, even if that team does not have the second best record overall. Entering play tonight, Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky are tied for first place in the East with identical 7-4 conference marks, and with Belmont only half a game behind at 6-4. That is why tonight’s nationally televised game between Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky is our UTR Game of the Day.
Morehead State enters tonight’s game with a 12-14 overall record. Their season includes a practically disastrous month of December where they went 1-6, only picking up a win on December 29 over Central Arkansas. January and February have been much kinder to the Eagles, and they enter tonight’s contest having won five of their last six including a win at home over the weekend against Belmont. Karam Mashour has been the player who has stepped up lately for the Eagles. After receiving only limited playing time through December, he has become a significant contributor, and scored 24, 21, and 22 points respectively in each of the team’s last three victories.
Eastern Kentucky (14-9 overall) made headlines this season back on December 19 when they won at Miami by a score of 72-44, thoroughly crushing the Hurricanes. The Colonels have slipped up a few times in league play, however, including losses to Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech. On the other hand, they gave Murray State a great game, losing on the road in overtime. The Colonels are led by Corey Walden who has scored in double-digits every game so far this season. They will need another strong effort from him and his teammates tonight if they want to take the lead (for now) in the battle for the #2 seed in the OVC tournament and attempt to defend their crown as Ohio Valley conference tournament champions.