After a five second inbounds play and a couple of clumsy possessions by Vanderbilt, the Racers drop the first buzzer beater upset of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
—
I started watching Murray State basketball about the same time I was old enough to start logging memories. My grandfather has been a season ticket holder for Racer basketball season since 1968 and from the time I was able to walk up the stairs to sit in the seat next to him, I’ve been at Murray State basketball games.
When I was in third grade, my grandfather got me into the ball boy program. I was one of those kids with the towels that would run on the court and mop up the sweat in the paint. I remember being amazed at just how good those guys were at their sport.
◊♦◊
My love for Murray State continued to grow, as my grandparents took me to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Nashville a few years in a row during the late 1990’s. I remember Aubrey Reese sinking a last second shot to win the tournament and the entire crowd in the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now Bridgestone Arena) erupting in a roar that would rival a jet taking off.
Memories of the OVC tournament will forever be engrained in me with admiration. Admiration of a time where things were simpler for me. Before real life grabbed hold and made things complicated.
But in 2010 I was transported back to those times.
Billy Kennedy had spent the last three years building a team, and in 2010 they had gone 31-5. This was the team that could put Murray State back on the map. And they did.
With a win over Morehead in the OVC championship the Racers earned a #13 seed in the NCAA tournament and they were paired against Vanderbilt. As both a Racer fan and a Widlcat fan, I’m familiar with Vanderbilt and was fairly confident the Racers had a shot at beating the 24-8 Vandy team who’d received an “at-large” bid.
I watched the Vandy/Murray State game from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. A few friends and I were on spring break and it was our first day at sea. We tuned in to watch the Racers play as the underdogs cramped into our tiny stateroom, the boat rocking back forth, and a few cocktails going around.
We tuned in to watch the Racers play as the underdogs cramped into our tiny stateroom, the boat rocking back forth, and a few cocktails going around.
|
The four of us screamed and yelled at the television more than any game I’ve watched in my life. The Racers led for 75% of the game, from the seven-minute mark in the first half until the 4:45 mark in the second half. It’s hard to grasp from the video clip, but the Austrailian, Ogilvy, was the target for most of slurs during the game. He caused problems in the paint the entire game.
With less than ten seconds to go in the second half Vandy hit two free throws that put them up 65-64. A five second in bounds play and a couple of clumsy Vandy players later, the Racers drop the first buzzer beater upset of the 2010 NCAA tournament and the Racers won their first NCAA tournament game since 1988.
◊♦◊
Despite the loss to eventual overall runner-up, Butler, in the second round the Racers made a name for themselves, a name they would justify in 2012 by being the last undefeated team in the nation, gaining a six seed in the tournament, and winning their first game in the NCAA tournament against Colorado State.
Though not in this year’s tournament, largely due to a heart-breaker of a loss at the hands of Belmont in the league championship game, the program is on an upwards trajectory.
And I look back to 2010 fondly as the beginning of the rise of the Murray State Racers.
—
Photo: Flickr/jcarruther