Murray State Quietly Racing Toward a Special Season
Posted by Tommy Lemoine on February 6th, 2015After his team’s most recent defeat – a 93-58 beatdown at the hands of Valparaiso – Murray State head coach Steve Prohm did not mince words: “We need to figure out what we need to do to get better. We are struggling – we’re playing terrible. Everybody knows that.” The 35-point drubbing was the Racers’ third-straight loss, an ugly punctuation to an unexpectedly poor start. “This is definitely not the same basketball team that finished the year,” Prohm said. Those statements were made on November 29 – well over two months ago – and it’s safe to say that his team has figured out how to get better. A lot better, in fact. Since losing to the Crusaders just after Thanksgiving, Murray State has reeled off 18 straight victories and put itself in position to become the first team in 11 years to go unbeaten in OVC play. With the conference’s most exceptional player pacing an highly efficient offense, the Racers seem poised to cement themselves in league history. If they can follow that success up with even more in March? Then it might be time to start mentioning Murray State in the same breath as some of the elite mid-major programs in college basketball.
Cam Payne and the Racers have their sights set on something special. (ovcball.net)
Murray State’s accomplishments to this point have mostly hinged on its ability to score with ease, a strong suit that begins with point guard Cameron Payne – the clear-cut front-runner for OVC Player of the Year. His dynamic scoring prowess (19 PPG) – quick off the dribble, adept at drawing fouls, proficient from deep – combined with equally-great passing skills (5.9 APG) makes the sophomore an unmatched force in the league. Last season, Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neaubauer called Payne “Murray State’s next Isaiah Canaan.” But the sophomore is not alone. Joining Payne in the backcourt are three excellent shooters – T.J. Sapp, Jeffery Moss and Justin Seymour – each of whom shoots better than 40 percent from deep and scores between 8.5 and 11.0 points per night. Down low, the Racers are equipped with arguably the conference’s best big man, 6’8’’ Jarvis Williams (16.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG), whose ability to run the floor – not to mention his great rapport with Payne – make him the perfect five man for Prohm’s uptempo attack (16.6 seconds per offensive possession; fastest in the OVC). Throw in power forward Jonathan Fairell, the fourth-best offensive rebounder in college hoops, and the sum of the parts of Murray State is an offense that might surpass last season’s Belmont group as the most efficient in recent modern OVC history. As it stands, the Racers rank 28th nationally in offensive efficiency (112.4 AdjO), just behind last year’s Bruins (112.9), and with a soft schedule upcoming, Prohm’s group has a great chance to further improve on that number.
Yet, Murray State could be on the cusp of something much more special (if less tangible) than any sort of statistical distinction. Along with trying to become the first team since 2004 Austin Peay to go undefeated in OVC play – the Racers now have a 29 percent chance of winning out – Payne’s team currently projects as a #12 seed in Joe Lunardi’s most recent mock bracket. If the Racers can run the table, win the conference tournament and make the Dance, Prohm’s guys – which just clinched a sixth-straight 20-win season – would be only two wins away from a third 30-win season in that same span. In fact, Murray State’s 149 victories since 2009-10 puts the program nearly on par with Gonzaga (161) and Wichita State (166) in that category, and just ahead of Belmont (143), its accomplished conference counterpart. Likewise, the Racers’ NCAA Tournament triumphs in both 2010 and 2012 make them one of just a few non-power conference schools (not including the A-10 and Mountain West) to pull off such a feat in multiple seasons this decade. If they win a game (or perhaps a few) this March – a legitimate possibility, considering their current projected seed line’s level of play – it will be hard not to consider Murray State as one of the top mid-major programs in college hoops – regardless of whether overall wins or NCAA Tournament wins are your preferred metric.
Of course, Selection Sunday is still over a month away and the Racers still have more work to do. As manageable as the next few weeks are, Prohm’s club finishes the regular season with a tough road game at up-and-coming UT-Martin. And if Belmont’s ouster last season taught us anything, it’s that the OVC Tournament is no walkover in its own right; the Bruins, Eastern Kentucky, UT-Martin and a few other teams are certainly capable of spoiling the party. Still, at 20-4 and showing no signs of slowing down, Murray State is excellent position to do something special – both as a team and an overall program.
