Upset-minded Racers open tournament play against Commodores

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first team in Division I to reach 30 wins this season, the Murray State Racers now have their sights set on number 31 as they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the 72nd annual NCAA Tournament at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

The Racers, the 13th seed in the West Regional, are in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th times, but the squad has just a single win to show for its efforts, thanks to a 78-75 triumph over NC State back in 1988. Other than that lone win, MSU has known nothing but disappointment in the event with a record of just 1-13 over the years.

In terms of 2009-10, Murray State lost just once in the last 22 games as it almost ran the table in the Ohio Valley Conference (17-1), capturing the regular-season title and the conference tournament crown with a 62-51 win over Morehead State.

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Commodores recorded a 12-4 mark against the rest of the SEC this season, and were 24-8 overall on the campaign. The team closed out the regular season with a 77-73 loss to South Carolina, but rebounded to log a 78-66 win over Georgia in the SEC Tournament six days later. The happiness was short-lived however, with Vandy suffering a 62-52 setback against Mississippi State on March 13th.

Vanderbilt has a record of 3-1 in the series with the Racers, the most recent of those victories coming in 1988 by a score of 74-57. The winner of today's contest will be back in action in the second round on Saturday and will face the winner of the Butler/UTEP meeting.

In what has to be considered one of the most well-balanced scoring attacks in college basketball this season, the Racers generated a lofty 77.5 ppg, yet not a single player scored even 11 ppg on the average. What makes this group so well-rounded is that there are five players scoring at least 10.0 ppg at this stage of the campaign. Ivan Aska is responsible for 10.6 ppg, stemming from his lofty 59.2 percent shooting from the floor, followed by B.J. Jenkins (10.5 ppg), Danero Thomas (10.4 ppg) and Tony Easley (10.4 ppg), while Isaiah Canaan came up with his 10.3 ppg as he shot almost 50 percent from the floor and 45.7 percent behind the three-point line. With as many as four players pulling down an average of four rebounds per game, it should come as little surprise that the balance struck in that department allowed the program to beat foes on the glass by six rebounds per game this season. By holding opponents to just 60.5 ppg, Murray State has outscored the competition by 17 ppg.

Jermaine Beal, the only player to average more than 27 minutes per game for the Commodores with his 32.2 minutes per outing this season, led the squad in scoring with 14.7 ppg, thanks in large part to 70 three-point baskets. More than just a scorer, Beal also stepped up to deliver a team-best 101 assists over the course of 32 games as well. A.J. Ogilvy was responsible for 13.4 ppg, as was Jeffery Taylor, the former shooting 50.7 percent from the floor and settling into the paint to secure a team-high 6.2 rpg. Despite starting only six games this season and averaging less than 23 minutes per outing, John Jenkins used his time wisely in order to arrive at 10.9 ppg. Jenkins matched Beal for the most three-point baskets this season, but in his case he shot an outstanding 47.9 percent out on the perimeter, which far exceeded the team's overall accuracy of 36.9 percent. The free-throw line has been a huge advantage for Vandy this season, the team averaging almost 26 visits per game and outscoring the opposition by 181 points.

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