Racers begin anticipated tourney run against Rams

Mar 15, 2012 - 2:40 PM Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - The darlings of Division I basketball this season, the Murray State Racers see a spike in competition compared to what they are used to as they begin play in the second round of the 74th annual NCAA Tournament by taking on the Colorado State Rams at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Murray State, the sixth seed in the West Region, opened the 2011-12 campaign with 23 consecutive wins and was one of the teams outside of the power conferences that many were fixated on, wondering whether or not the Racers could run the table. Unfortunately, the team was finally defeated by Tennessee State at home on Feb.9 by a score of 72-68, yet MSU still closed with seven more wins, including a pair against the same TSU program. On March 3, MSU took down Tennessee State in a 54-52 final in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title game.

Meanwhile, the 11th-seeded Rams were one of those fortunate teams to grab an at-large bid to this tournament, after finishing 20-11 overall and just 8-6 against the rest of the Mountain West Conference. The team had a few marquee wins in conference play versus the likes of San Diego State, New Mexico and UNLV, all of which were nationally ranked at the time of those meetings. For the first time since the middle of January the Rams were able to put together at least three straight wins as they closed out the regular season and began the MWC Tournament, but in the semifinals of the annual event the team bowed to the Aztecs, 79-69, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

As far as their success in the NCAA Tournament goes, the Rams are back in for the ninth time in program history and the first time since 2003, sporting a record of 3-9 in the event over the years. As for the Racers, this is their 15th tournament appearance, but they too have struggled to show significant success with just two wins in 16 opportunities. Two years ago MSU delivered a win over Vanderbilt and also came close to knocking off Butler as well.

Following this first-ever meeting between these two programs, the survivor will be back in action on Saturday against the winner of the BYU/Marquette contest in the third round.

This year's Colorado State team, just the seventh in school history to record at least 20 wins in a single season, is paced by Wes Eikmeier with his 15.6 ppg, although his 40.5 percent shooting from the floor is certainly questionable. However, Eikmeier did make up for that lackluster performance from the field by hitting 107-of-122 (.877) at the free-throw line, the team as a whole connecting on 76.9 percent which was considerably better than the competition which converted at 71.2 percent. Dorian Green (13.5 ppg) is the only other double-digit scorer overall for CSU, which only makes sense since he and Eikmeier were the only ones to start all 31 games in 2011-12. Between the two they combined to make good on 106 three-pointers, which was a considerable chunk of the unit's 186 triples on the season. Pierce Hornung (8.7 ppg), when he is able to stay out of foul trouble, is the one who carries the Rams on the glass with close to eight and a half boards per outing.

Murray State head coach Steve Prohm stepped into a golden situation with the Racers this year, becoming the eighth straight MSU coach to win the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title. Coach Prohm owes much of his and the team's success to Isaiah Canaan, who was named a top-five finalist for the Bob Cousy Award while also being named the OVC Player of the Year and a member of the All-OVC First Team. Canaan led the team in scoring with 19.2 ppg and was also first in assists with 116 which is a deadly combination, especially when you consider that he shot a staggering 47.3 percent from three-point range over 31 starts. Donte Poole, the MVP of the OVC Tournament, is second on the scoring list with 14.2 ppg and his 65 triples means he and Canaan have accounted for the bulk of the team's 230 conversions from the outside. From a defensive standpoint, the Racers held opponents to a mere 29.5 percent accuracy from beyond the arc and just 61.2 ppg overall. Jewuan Long (8.5 ppg) has had a lot to do with that and was recognized as the league's top defender.