Game 11- Murray State

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips head to Vegas next Saturday to face to the Murray State Racers in the Jack Jones Classic.  The Racers are 7-3 with wins over Bellarmine, Morehead State, George Washington, Little Rock, Nicholls, Mississippi Valley, Omaha, Northern State and Xavier, and losses to SMU, Middle Tennessee and McNeese State.

 

Of their three losses, two came in the Caymans against Middle Tennessee, 90-87, and McNeese State, 73-70.   Their other loss was 102-91 at SMU.

 

From the Bellarmine website going into their game with Murray:

 

MSU shoots 29.3 threes per game, 36th-most in the country, and ranks 99th connecting at a .360 clip. Defensively, the Racers are in the bottom third of the country allowing 77.3 points per game, a trait that could spell good fortune for the hot-shooting Knights on Saturday.

Javon Jackson, playing at his fourth school in as many years, averages a team-best 16.3 points for MSU, 4th in The Valley. The senior guard has taken 116 shots, 52 more than anyone else on the team, but is shooting just .388. Fred King, a former Louisville commitment who played three seasons at Creighton, shoots a team-best .733 and is second behind Jackson with 12.2 points per game. On the perimeter, Bellarmine will need to keep an eye on Mason Miller, who is shooting .512 from deep.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Huge game. Murray State was 87 NET coming into today's game. Another top 100 opportunity and potential Q2 matchup. 

[csims0917]

I think this game is on baller TV. Bleh 

[Reslife4Life]

24 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

I think this game is on baller TV. Bleh 

Worst thing I've read today. https://support.baller.tv/hc/en-us/articles/8996313312013-Pricing-Live-Stream-Access

I just googled how much is baller tv and it took me to this link. If the smallest plan is $44 there is no way I will be watching

[Zips1991]

37 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

Worst thing I've read today. https://support.baller.tv/hc/en-us/articles/8996313312013-Pricing-Live-Stream-Access

I just googled how much is baller tv and it took me to this link. If the smallest plan is $44 there is no way I will be watching

I didn't look too far into it but it says on this page that you can purchase an "event pass" for $20. I assume you get to watch all four games for that price (there's 3 games after the Zips game). https://www.ballertv.com/events/jack-jones-classic-2025

[kreed5120]

I guess I'll be sitting this one out, which is fine. I have some holiday shopping I need to get done. I'll just listen to it on the radio while I'm out and about.

[ZipsFan31]

Radio broadcast for me! Huge Game! Let’s go get it.

[RoyalBlu]

Frankly ... sports on the radio is the best way to go. 

 

I remember growing up listening to Missouri Valley Conference games on the radio.

Edited 17 hours ago by RoyalBlu

[1981 grad]

I did not realize this was a one game event.  I thought it was a tourney where a team would advance.  Glad we get a good opponent but disappointed the Zips only get one game.

[zippy5]

10 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

I did not realize this was a one game event.  I thought it was a tourney where a team would advance.  Glad we get a good opponent but disappointed the Zips only get one game.

I don't think we would be able to do another tournament since we participated in the Paradise Jam

[tpsjugglerdude]

This should be a high-scoring affair with the Zips averaging 96.2 ppg and Murray State averaging 89ppg. 

 

Murray State leads the MCV in 3-point shooting. Will the Zips be able to guard the perimeter? Recently, it seems to be a struggle.

 

Murray also focuses on offensive rebounding to get extra possessions. They've had games with 19 and 16 offensive boards. Can the Zips limit second chance points?

[NWAkron]

Bad match up for Zips:  They rebound well, play fast, and are stingy with 3 point defense.

[Let'sGoZips94]

13 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Bad match up for Zips:  They rebound well, play fast, and are stingy with 3 point defense.

 

No matter the matchup (except Redwood Tree rosters like Purdue), the opponent will still have to keep up with Akron's offense. 

[Zips1991]

12 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

I did not realize this was a one game event.  I thought it was a tourney where a team would advance.  Glad we get a good opponent but disappointed the Zips only get one game.

Yep, one game per team. There's four games in total with Akron playing in the first game of the day, followed by three more. Some really decent teams are playing after Akron so it's too bad that it's not a tourney!

Akron vs Murray State

Santa Clara vs Arizona State

UNLV vs Tennessee State

UC San Diego vs Tulane

[zippy5]

Sounds like it's off to the races with the Racers

 

🤦‍♂️

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, zippy5 said:

I don't think we would be able to do another tournament since we participated in the Paradise Jam

They will just count as regular season games and not a MTE. We've played in that Don Haskins 4 team tournament that UTEP hosts while also playing in a proper MTE in the same year multiple times. We would just have to sacrifice an additional home game to play 2 neutral court games instead of 1 in that type of scenario.

Edited 2 hours ago by kreed5120

[RoyalBlu]

Perhaps a bad matchup ... but a good test!!!

[kreed5120]

1 minute ago, RoyalBlu said:

Perhaps a bad matchup ... but a good test!!!

 

This is kind of where I stand. I feel we've find ourselves out of position a lot on defense. Fortunately for us our opponents haven't made us pay (other than Yale).

 

Hopefully this game provides for some good teaching moments for Groce and we can come out with a win. I expect a tightly contested game.