Murray State
vs.
Colorado State
March Madness Pick
Preview – Analysis
3/15/12
The Murray State Racers (30-1, RPI: 22) didn’t get much respect from the Tournament Selection Committee after putting together a tremendous season that ended with just a single loss. Playing as the six seed in the West Region they will face eleven seed Colorado State (20-11, RPI: 27). The Rams finished Fourth in the Mountain West and are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. Murray State is a 4 point favorite for this Game that will be played in Louisville, Ky.
Colorado State played the eighth toughest Schedule in the nation, but still managed to make the 20 win mark. They failed to beat anyone of notoriety in non-Conference play, but came to life in MWC play by downing San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico. All three finished the regular season in the Top 25.
Murray State is entering the Dance after its best regular season in the history of their program. In non-Conference play they defeated Southern Mississippi in double overtime as well as a stellar Dayton team. Their marquee wins came over very good Memphis and St. Mary’s teams. The lone loss for the Racers was against Tennessee State, a team they would take vengeance on in their Conference Tournament.
Junior G Isaiah Canaan is the leader of the team. He owns a stellar average of 19.2 PPG. An excellent three point shooter, he had a season high 36 points against Southern Mississippi. Murray State will go as far as Canaan takes them in this Tournament. Senior G Donte Poole is also a key cog with 14.2 PPG. He is a great free throw shooter and averages 86.4%.
Senior F Ivan Aska and junior F Edward Daniel man the ship down low for Murray State. They combine to average 17.8 PPG and 11 RPG. Both are just 6-7 and Murray State could find themselves undersized going forward. LUckily for the Racers, that will not be a problem in this Game.
Junior G Dorian Green is a great shooter for Colorado State. Although he gets just 13.5 PPG, he makes a tremendous 49.3% of his shots. Green supplements the team’s leading scorer, Wes Eikmeier who gets 15.6 PPG. Down low the Rams look to Pierce Hornung who puts up 8.7 PPG, but more importantly grabs 8.4 RPG. Greg Smith is also pivotal with 9.7 PPG and 5.3 RPG.
Six seeds are 72-36 all-time against eleven seeds, but have done poor in recent history. In fact, they lost 3 of 4 last year as VCU, Marquette and Gonzaga all pulled big upsets. Murray State owns the advantage of playing in their home state as well as having plenty of upper classmen to lead the way. Even knowing that, Colorado State could be a pesky opponent. They played against some of the best teams in the country this year and beat a few of them too.
Our Pick – Colorado State +4 – For Our Key Releases as well as Score Predictions for every Game thru the Final 4 Click Here!