Murray State and Belmont

The Saga Continues

(St. Louis, MO) – Murray State and Belmont have been bitter and respected rivals for the past ten years in the Ohio Valley Conference. Both teams moved to the Missouri Valley Conference this year, and the rivalry is just as hot as ever.

Tuesday the Racers visit the Bruins and each team is a part of an historic Valley race. Eight teams are within one game of first place. While Belmont (13-6, 6-2) is tied for first with Indiana State and Southern Illinois, Murray (10-8, 5-3) is tied for fourth with five other teams.

When the two teams meet at Belmont’s Curb Event Center Tuesday, the stakes will be very high. But, when these two teams meet the stakes are always high! It’s almost impossible to say ‘Murray State’ without saying ‘Belmont’ and vice versa.

During their ten years of combined time in the OVC, they either won the regular season title or shared it with each other. Five years of divisional play saw the each win or tie for their division title every season. The two OVC titans each won three tournament titles during that ten-year span.

Murray State head coach Steve Prohm says the rivalry between the two schools is special.

 

 

During their decade together, four Murray State players were named OVC Player of the Year, three came from Belmont and one season (2013), one player from each team shared the honor.

Now, they are two of the eight MVC teams separated by one game in the standings with twelve league games remaining.

Murray State and Belmont – The Coaches

It is hard to find more accomplished coaches than Murray State’s Steve Prohm and Belmont’s Casey Alexander. Each has a coaching winning percentage of .610 or better and Prohm’s spectacular .755 at Murray is bested by Alexander’s .783 at Belmont.

Alexander was the A-Sun coach of the year honoree in 2019 and Prohm was so honored in the OVC in 2015. During his first stint at Murray, Prohm led the Racers to four straight conference or divisional titles and one OVC Tournament crown. Alexander’s teams have won twenty or more games for six straight seasons and Prohm’s have done so during seven of his ten previous coaching campaigns.

While at Ioway State, Prohm won two Big Twelve Tournament championships and has taken four teams to the NCAA Tournament. Alexander has qualified teams for the Big Dance twice. One of them was during the 2020 season when the tournament was canceled.

Murray State and Belmont – The Players

Talent abounds on these two rosters. While it is an unusually high amount of turnover for each team, Murray State’s offseason was a complete roster makeover. Only D.J. Burns returned as a significant contributor from last year’s 31-win team. Alexander lost three all-league caliber players to graduation and important rotation player Ja’Cobi Wood transferred out, to all all places … Murray State.

Alexander says Murray State is a great rival and says he was sad to see Wood depart and admits the guard is an important part of the Racer attack.

 

 

 

Wood (12.3 ppg) joins Rob Perry (14.9 ppg) and Jamari Smith (12.4) as the Racers’ leading scorers and is third on the Valley’s assist-leader-board (4.56). Burns leads the MVC in offensive rebounding and is the Racers’ energy producer.

Junior college transfer Brian Moore’s season numbers don’t jump off the page, but he is hitting his stride. The 6’3 guard is averaging 5.6 points per game, but over the last six games, he is averaging 10.5. While not a three-point threat, during that six game span, the Harlem, New York native has made 20 of 31 field goal attempts and 20 of 22 from the free throw line.

Belmont’s Ben Sheppard is a making a strong case for the league’s MVP award. The 6’6 senior is the Valley’s third leading scorer, second most accurate long distance shooter, ninth in steals, tenth in assists and eleventh in field goal percentage.

Sheppard has plenty of help. Freshman Cade Tyson (12.9) and transfer Drew Friberg (12.7) are big offensive contributors. Tyson leads the league in free throw percentage and is fifth in long range accuracy. Friberg is the league’s best three-point shooter.

Tennesse Tech transfer Keishawn Davidson and freshman guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie are also among the league leaders in assists and Gillespie seventh in steals.

Murray State and Belmont – The Venue

This is the first of at least two games between the rivals this season. Belmont visits Murray on February 1.

While Murray State swept the season series last year, Belmont leads the all-time series 12 games to 11. The Bruins hold a 5-2 advantage at home. Valley preseason polls weren’t kind to these perennial powers. Belmont was picked to finish sixth in the league’s twelve-team poll and the Racers were picked eighth.

Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

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