West Virginia And Murray State Set To Meet For the First Time In NCAA First Round

WHEN/WHERE

Date: Friday, March 16th, 2018

Tip-Off Time: Approx. 3:45 PM ET

Where: Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl, San Diego, California

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

WATCH/LISTEN

TV: TNT

Streaming Video: NCAA March Madness | Hulu | CBS All Access (Subject to regional availability) | FuboTV

Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Radio Affiliates)

Streaming Audio: Locate the Mountaineers Sports Network from IMG on TuneIn Radio (or the TuneIn app for smartphones)

SiriusXM: Channel 145 (Sirius), Channel 203 (XM)

ODDS

Spread: West Virginia -10.5

O/U: 145.5

THE ENEMY

Where are they from? Murray, Kentucky

Series History: This is the first ever meeting between the two programs.

SB Nation Blog: Mid-Major Madness

Record: 26-5 (16-2 Ohio Valley)

Record in 2016-17: 16-17 (8-8 OVC)

Head Coach: Matt McMahon (3rd Season)

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

RACERS TO KNOW

• Jonathan Stark (Guard): Stark is coming into his first NCAA tournament as the newly crowned Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 21.8 points and 3.9 assists per game during the season. Stark is going to take most of the shots for the Racers; get him off his game, and the Mountaineers can roll.
• Terrell Miller Jr. (Forward): The 6’8” senior will be the Racers’ threat down low. Miller averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season.
• Ja Morant (Guard): The yin to Stark’s yang. Morant was snubbed for Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, but is dangerous compliment to Jonathan Stark. Morant averaged 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists on the season.

HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE (ON A SCALE OF 1-10)?

Six. I’m never completely comfortable in any NCAA First Round matchup that involves our Mountaineers, especially when it’s against a team that no one has watched. That said, I believe if West Virginia gets through this one, we’re going to dancing our way to the Elite Eight.

PREDICTION THAT WILL BE WRONG

Jevon Carter proves to be too much for Jonathan Stark. Daxter Miles Jr. continues his hot streak that started during the Big 12 Conference tournament, and Sagaba Konate breaks the school record for blocks in one game.

West Virginia 81, Murray State 69