Morant, Murray St. win first bid to NCAA tourney

Updated: Mar 10, 2019, 10:51 am

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Ja Morant scored 22 of his 36 points in the second half and Murray State beat Belmont 77-65 on Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference championship to earn an NCAA tournament bid.

The Racers (27-4) earned the first spot this season in the tournament.

Dylan Windler scored 17 points for Belmont (26-5) and Kevin McClain added 14. The Bruins had won 14 in a row.

Belmont led by five at halftime and by six early in the second half before allowing the Racers to go on a 14-2 run.

The Bruins took a one-point lead with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left on Windler's jump hook, but Morant answered with a layup and scored eight straight for Murray State. He also assisted on Tevin Brown's 3 from the wing to extend the Racers' lead to six with 56 seconds remaining. Darnell Cowart then drew a charge on the next possession to seal the victory.

It was the second matchup this season between the OVC powers. Belmont won the first 79-66 on the road Jan. 24.

TRAINERS ROOM

Belmont played without 6-foot-11 center Nick Muszynski, who suffered an ankle injury in Friday's semifinal win over Austin Peay. The OVC Freshman of the Year averages 14.9 points and led the league in field goal percentage (60.8) and blocks per game (2.2).

UP NEXT

Murray State: The Racers are headed to the NCAA tournament for fourth time this decade.

Belmont: The Bruins are forced to wait a week until Selection Sunday to learn their fate. They will hold out hope their résumé is viewed favorably by the selection committee to be an at-large team. If they finish outside of the bubble, they will play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) as the OVC regular-season co-champion.