Murray State dominated the Ohio Valley all year long, but a loss to Belmont leaves the Racers unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After Belmont hit the go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of the Ohio Valley Conference final, Murray State still had hope.
Down 88-87, the Racers had 3.2 seconds to get down the floor and try to get a shot off to send Murray State to the NCAA Tournament.
"3.2 seconds is a lot of time," T.J. Sapp said.
Coach Steve Prohm, seated next to his senior guard at the postgame press conference, broke out of his empty stare to say the same: "3.2 seconds is a lot of time."
Three seconds and change was not enough for Murray State. Because of a game that ended with an awkward 3-pointer by a kid from Lexington, Ky., Murray State went from hope and possibilities to begging for an NCAA Tournament bid, probably in vain. March can be the most cruel month.
No team besides Kentucky had won more games in a row than Murray State's 25 entering Saturday. The Racers won every game in their league by an average of 13.8 points. They have the best player in the conference, a pro prospect at point guard in Cameron Payne who is only a sophomore.
Murray State's resume has been dissected in great detail, but here is the short version: All those conference wins have come against sub-RPI top-100 opponents, Murray State's only game against a top-100 team was a 27-point loss at Xavier, and the Racers lost to bad teams in the American Athletic and West Coast conferences.
Win streak or not, no team with that kind of resume has made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. No amount of lobbying the selection committee may help, but Prohm at least tried.
"How do you know the middle of the pack SEC is good? How do you know the middle of the pack Big Ten is good?" Prohm said. "Everybody just starts with an RPI number. That's not fair. Watch the teams play. A team wins 25 in a row, there's no question that team belongs in the Tournament. It shouldn't even be up for debate. I'm not saying it's a 10 seed (we deserve), but if it's a 12 seed, a 12-seed play-in game, we definitely are deserving."
Belmont coach Rick Byrd will say this year's Bruins team is not one of his best. Belmont's five league losses are the most for the program since 2010, and the Bruins' KenPom ranking of No. 143 is their lowest since 2006.
Byrd also will say that Murray State is the best conference team Belmont has faced in any conference since it has been a Division I member for nearly two decades. The idea of that kind of team losing out on the NCAA Tournament isn't one Byrd hasn't encountered often.
"I can't imagine," said Byrd, whose program will make its seventh NCAA trip since 2006. "I told our team beforehand that they're the ones with the most to lose. It's hard to keep winning and winning and winning. It wears on you. It's tough to do."
Keeping a win streak going is especially tough when an opponent launches more than a dozen three-pointers. Against Murray State, Belmont hit 15 three-point shots. On 38 attempts.
The final attempt, the game-winner, was one of chance.
Belmont's final three-point shot only occurred because of an official timeout on the floor. On the first attempt on the final play, Byrd sent Taylor Barnette to inbound on a play designed for a two-point shot.
Barnette inbounded to Craig Bradshaw, but officials stopped play when the game clock started prematurely. Byrd used the official timeout to set up a Bradshaw inbounds play to to Reece Chamberlain, who then passed to Barnette.
"We went out there and we had the play called and I thought I didn't want to go to overtime," Byrd said. "We had a play to get 2 to tie the game. Because of the way we got lined up and the way the ball was thrown in, it showed them what we were going to do, at least, too much for me. So we did change the play. That's something."
After Byrd sent in the second play for Barnette's shot, Prohm sat on his three timeouts rather than clarifying the defense.
"I blew it," Prohm said. "I should have called timeout there. You look at it and you second guess a lot of things."
If Belmont's final attempt was enough of a good break, consider the guy who had took the shot. Belmont recruited Barnette out of Lexington Christian Academy but came to the end of the signing period with one scholarship for two players. Bradshaw - the inbounder who finished with 25 points - took the scholarship.
Barnette committed to UCF, but after NCAA sanctions hit the Knights, he went to Virginia. After a year with the Cavaliers, he transferred to Belmont.
A Lexington kid, who planned to play college basketball in Florida or Virginia, made the shot to end a 25-game win streak and send Murray State to the NIT. Nine seconds to score, 3.2 seconds to defend, and one team's aspirations are spoiled and another team's most unrealistic dreams fulfilled.
"It still seems like it didn't go in." Barnette said. "It's surreal."
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1BYti6s
No comments:
Post a Comment