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MTSU could make history at Sun Belt tourney

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By: DAVID HUNTER, dhunter@murfreesboropost.com

Posted: Thursday, March 7, 2013 12:30 am

MTSU could make history at Sun Belt tourney | Shawn Jones, MTSU, Blue Raiders, Basketball, Sports, Murfreesboro, SBC, NCAA, Lady Raiders

Blue Raider basketball player Shawn Jones (center) battles against two University Lousiana-Monroe players Jan. 19, 2013, at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo courtesy of MTSU/A. Lambert)

Both MTSU basketball teams are three wins away from achieving history and earning another trip to the NCAA tournament.

The 2013 Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament begins tomorrow in Hot Springs, Ark., with both the men’s and women’s champion receiving an automatic into the Big Dance in a couple weeks.

However, both the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders earned first-round byes and it will not play its first game until Saturday.

First up, the men’s team will look to make history as the first Blue Raider team to punch its ticket since Randy Henry, Mike Buck and Kerry Hammonds Sr. led MTSU to the 1989 NCAA tournament.

Fast forward almost a quarter century later this group of Blue Raiders, including senior and former Siegel High guard and Hammonds son, Kerry Jr. will be hoping to make its own history.

This year, these Blue Raiders do not want to repeat old history, but make a new chapter in the MTSU record books.

“These guys have done a lot of firsts, and they have almost broken every team record in school history,” MTSU head coach Kermit Davis said. “Their is one thing myself and the rest of the players have never done and that is win a Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship, and that is the total mindset of our of team. We are just focused on our team and winning.”

None of this year’s Blue Raiders were born when the program last made the NCAA tournament, and they are looking to finish off a specular season which earned them the SBC regular season title for the second consecutive year.

Currently, the Blue Raiders are 27-4 and on a 16-game winning streak heading into the SBC tournament.

However, MTSU was in the same position last season with the No. 1 seed in last year’s SBC postseason, but was upset in the quarterfinals by Arkansas State, 64-61.

The Blue Raiders instead were sent to the NIT tournament, but it made it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to Minnesota.

“The clear message to our team will be control your own destiny, and do not let the selection committee control it,” Davis said. “The only thing we want them to control is seeding, and by doing that we got to do what we do. Our team has played with a little chip on their shoulder, because of the SBC tournament game last year.”

MTSU opens up play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Friday’s game between Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas in the quarterfinals.

The Blue Raiders are a combined 4-0 against both opponents during the regular season.

The SBC tournament will be set up as a single-elimination, winner-take-all format in both the men’s and women’s bracket.

If the Blue Raiders win on Saturday, it will play in the semifinals the following day at 6:30 p.m. The SBC title game will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, and it will be shown on ESPN.

As for the Lady Raiders, it will looking for its first SBC tournament title since 2010, and its fifth straight NCAA trip.

This year’s team enters in as the No. 1 seed in this week’s event also in Hot Springs, Ark. Currently, the Lady Raiders are 22-7, 17-3 on the season. It was the ninth consecutive year, MTSU had 20 or more wins during the regular season.

Now, it is looking for its first SBC tournament title since 2010, in which this will be the program’s final appearance in SBC tournament before heading to C-USA next season.

During its time in the SBC since 2001, the Lady Raiders have won nine SBC postseason titles, and it will be looking to end its time with one more in the MTSU history books.

“The conference is pretty tough, because we got eight or nine teams that can play with anybody not only in the conference but around the country,” MTSU head coach Rick Insell said. “We got to be ready to play from the get go. There is no gimme and from the beginning we got to be ready to play.”

The Lady Raiders also earned a first-round bye and it will play the winner of Friday’s match up between Florida Atlantic and Louisiana-Monroe on March 9 at noon in the quarterfinals.

The Lady Raiders are a combined 4-0 against its two future tournament opponents during the regular season.

If the Lady Raiders win, it will play in the semifinals on Sunday also at noon. The women’s championship game is at 1 p.m. on March 11 and it will be televised on ESPNU.

A player to watch for the Lady Raiders is junior forward Ebony Rowe, who is a All-American candidate and a Top 30 finalist for the Naismith Women’s Basketball Player of the Year award.

All games throughout the SBC tournament will take place in Hot Springs, Ark. The 2013 NCAA tournament bracket will be announced on March 17 for the men, and the following evening for the women.

Tagged under Basketball, Blue Raiders, Lady Raiders, MTSU, Murfreesboro, NCAA, SBC, Shawn Jones, Sports

Member Opinions:

By: bcb4a_mtsu_s13 on 3/8/13
Both Raider teams have been amazing to watch. Having been at this school since fall of 2010 I’ve been able to see the Men’s team progress into the powerhouse they are now and experience the joy other schools do when they have a team legitimately playing well. Since I’ve been here the women’s team has always been regarded as great. It’s also good to see this after having experienced the unfortunate death of Tina Stewart my freshman year. After last year’s disappointing finish in the tournament and having to play in the NIT I can’t wait for us to win the Sun Belt In our last year and get the automatic we need to give us all peace of mind; especially after the football bowl game debacle last year. I think both teams can make great satisfying runs and at the end of the season will have nothing to be ashamed of. I only hope this all happens to two teams who really deserve it for their drive and commitment to the game throughout their college careers.

By: zdw2d_mtsu_s13 on 3/8/13
I am excited to watch both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at MTSU in the Sun Belt Conference Tournaments, and hopefully, they will be in the NCAA Tournament. I have always been a big sports fan and growing up around the area of Murfreesboro and Smyrna I had never really heard much about the men’s basketball team. I had seen the women’s team in the NCAA Tournament a few years in a row, but I felt like when I came to MTSU I would not get to see the men’s team do much. Thankfully, I was wrong to worry. It has been exciting at MTSU my first two years to check the national rankings each week and see my school getting national recognition and getting as many votes as some well-known college powerhouses. I was very disappointed last year when the men’s team failed to make it into the tournament, but I was excited for the women’s team. I think this year, however, both MTSU basketball teams are very strong and determined. I think that both will go on to win their tournaments and represent the school in their respective NCAA Tournaments. This will be a good thing for the school because it will show recruits that they can have a prosperous career at MTSU.