2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by third-year head coach Matt McMahon, played their home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–6, 16–2 in OVC play to win the OVC regular season championship. They defeated Jacksonville State and Belmont to become champions of the OVC Tournament. They earned the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the First Round to West Virginia.

2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball
OVC regular season and tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, First Round
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
2017–18 record26–6 (16–2 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Shane Nichols
  • Tim Kaine
  • Casey Long
Home arenaCFSB Center
2017–18 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Murray State162 .889  266  .813
Belmont153 .833  249  .727
Austin Peay126 .667  1915  .559
Jacksonville State117 .611  2313  .639
Tennessee Tech108 .556  1914  .576
Tennessee State108 .556  1515  .500
Southeast Missouri State*810 .444  1417  .452
Eastern Illinois711 .389  1219  .387
SIU Edwardsville513 .278  921  .300
UT Martin513 .278  1021  .323
Eastern Kentucky513 .278  1120  .355
Morehead State414 .222  821  .276
*ineligible for postseason due to APR violations
2018 OVC Tournament winner

Previous season

The Racers finished the 2016–17 season 16–17, 8–8 in OVC play to finish in third place in the West Division. As the No. 7 seed in the OVC Tournament, they defeated Tennessee Tech and Morehead State before losing to UT Martin in the semifinals.

Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Murray State was picked to finish in 3rd place in the OVC. Jonathan Stark was picked as the Preseason OVC Player of the Year, and Terrell Miller was also named to the 2017–18 Preseason All-OVC Men's Basketball Team.[1]

After five years of divisional play in the OVC, the conference eliminated divisions for the 2017–18 season. Additionally, for the first time, each conference team will play 18 conference games.[1]

Roster

2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 0 Terrell Miller, Jr. 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)245 lb (111 kg) SrArlington Country Day School
SW Miss CC
Jacksonville, FL
G 2 Jonathan Stark 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)180 lb (82 kg) SrBob Jones HS
Tulane
Munford, TN
F 4 Brion Sanchious 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)245 lb (111 kg) JrNortheast HS Pompano Beach, FL
G 10 Tevin Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)180 lb (82 kg) FrFairhope HS Fairhope, AL
G 11 Shaq Buchanan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) JrMadison Central HS
NE Miss CC
Madison, MS
G 12 Ja Morant 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)170 lb (77 kg) FrCrestwood HS Dalzell, SC
F 13 Devin Gilmore 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) FrMadison-Ridgeland Academy Picayune, MS
G 22 Brion Whitley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) FrRiverview HS Sarasota, FL
G 23 Jachai Taylor 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoWaukegan HS Waukegan, IL
F 24 Anthony Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)225 lb (102 kg) JrPotomac HS
Barton CC
Suitland, MD
G 25 Byron Hawkins 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrClinton Christian HS
Towson
Fort Washington, MD
G 35 Zach Hopewell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) FrApollo HS Owensboro, KY
F 40 Jalen Dupree 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)240 lb (109 kg) SoCordova HS Cordova, TN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 9, 2017

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 2, 2017*
7:00 pm
McKendree W 98–82 
CFSB Center 
Murray, KY
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017*
7:00 pm
Brescia W 118–61  1–0
CFSB Center (2,993)
Murray, KY
Nov 13, 2017*
7:00 pm
Middle Tennessee L 67–72  1–1
CFSB Center (3,854)
Murray, KY
Nov 18, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Wright State W 80–61  2–1
Nutter Center (4,009)
Fairborn, OH
Nov 25, 2017*
7:00 pm
Southern Illinois W 81–73  3–1
CFSB Center (3,062)
Murray, KY
Nov 28, 2017*
7:00 pm
Harris–Stowe W 85–56  4–1
CFSB Center (2,542)
Murray, KY
Dec 2, 2017*
7:00 pm
Florida A&M W 80–59  5–1
CFSB Center (3,021)
Murray, KY
Dec 9, 2017*
3:00 pm, NBCSC
at Illinois State W 78–72  6–1
Redbird Arena (5,150)
Normal, IL
Dec 12, 2017*
7:00 pm, FSMW
at Saint Louis L 55–69  6–2
Chaifetz Arena (4,971)
St. Louis, MO
Dec 16, 2017*
7:00 pm
Marist W 100–63  7–2
CFSB Center (2,250)
Murray, KY
Dec 19, 2017*
7:00 pm
Auburn L 77–81  7–3
CFSB Center (6,478)
Murray, KY
Dec 22, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Detroit W 81–72  8–3
Calihan Hall (1,107)
Detroit, MI
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
Dec 28, 2017
7:00 pm
Eastern Illinois W 80–52  9–3
(1–0)
CFSB Center (2,846)
Murray, KY
Dec 30, 2017
7:00 pm
SIU Edwardsville W 87–63  10–3
(2–0)
CFSB Center (2,986)
Murray, KY
Jan 4, 2018
7:00 pm
Southeast Missouri State W 89–73  11–3
(3–0)
CFSB Center (2,728)
Murray, KY
Jan 6, 2018
7:00 pm
UT Martin W 82–58  12–3
(4–0)
CFSB Center (4,781)
Murray, KY
Jan 11, 2018
7:30 pm
at Jacksonville State L 71–76  12–4
(4–1)
Pete Mathews Coliseum (3,004)
Jacksonville, AL
Jan 13, 2018
7:30 pm
at Tennessee Tech W 71–45  13–4
(5–1)
Eblen Center (2,054)
Cookeville, TN
Jan 18, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPNU
at Belmont L 72–79  13–5
(5–2)
Curb Event Center (2,354)
Nashville, TN
Jan 20, 2018
7:30 pm
at Tennessee State W 76–57  14–5
(6–2)
Gentry Complex (2,611)
Nashville, TN
Jan 25, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPNU
Morehead State W 87–81  15–5
(7–2)
CFSB Center (4,454)
Murray, KY
Jan 27, 2018
7:00 pm
Eastern Kentucky W 88–73  16–5
(8–2)
CFSB Center (4,070)
Murray, KY
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm
at Southeast Missouri State W 87–75  17–5
(9–2)
Show Me Center (2,035)
Cape Girardeau, MO
Feb 03, 2018
6:00 pm
at UT Martin W 66–53  18–5
(10–2)
Skyhawk Arena (3,247)
Martin, TN
Feb 8, 2018
6:00 pm, CBSSN
Austin Peay W 84–63  19–5
(11–2)
CFSB Center (4,339)
Murray, KY
Feb 10, 2018
1:00 pm, FSMW
at SIU Edwardsville W 75–66  20–5
(12–2)
Vadalabene Center (1,517)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 15, 2018
7:00 pm
Jacksonville State W 68–60  21–5
(13–2)
CFSB Center (3,902)
Murray, KY
Feb 17, 2018
7:00 pm
Tennessee Tech W 75–65  22–5
(14–2)
CFSB Center (6,495)
Murray, KY
Feb 22, 2018
7:30 pm
at Eastern Illinois W 76–66  23–5
(15–2)
Lantz Arena (1,313)
Charleston, IL
Feb 24, 2018
7:00 pm
at Austin Peay W 73–64  24–5
(16–2)
Dunn Center (4,343)
Clarksville, TN
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Mar 2, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPNU
(1) vs. (4) Jacksonville State
Semifinals
W 70–63  25–5
Ford Center (3,403)
Evansville, IN
Mar 3, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN2
(1) vs. (2) Belmont
Final
W 68–51  26–5
Ford Center (4,280)
Evansville, IN
NCAA Tournament
Mar 16, 2018*
3:00 pm, TNT
(12 E) vs. (5 E) No. 15 West Virginia
First Round
L 68–85  26–6
Viejas Arena (10,892)
San Diego, CA

*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West

Source[2].
All times are in Central Time.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.