Commodores Clipped at Clock by Cinderella

The first time was the charm for Bill Kennedy and Murray State. The Racers drew up a new play in the final seconds of Thursday’s game against Vanderbilt, and succeeded in pulling off the upset. The 13th seeded Racers defeated the fourth seeded Commodores 66-65 to prevail in the opening round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in 22 years (NC State, 1988). Kennedy’s play called for senior forward, Danero Thomas to deliver the game-winning shot with 4.2 seconds on the clock. Thomas sunk the buzzer beater over Vandy guard, Lance Goulbourne, to send the 21st ranked team in the nation home after day one of March Madness. Could Murray State be this year’s Cinderella club?
Isacc Miles, the veteran Racers’ guard, led all players on the floor with 17 points. Thomas and B.J. Jenkins also scored in double digits for Murray State. The little-known school from Kentucky took a four point advantage into halftime by battering Vanderbilt on the boards. The Racers pulled down 15 offensive rebounds by the end of regulation. The Commodores struggled at the foul line, finishing an uncharacteristic 58.6% in that category. Vandy shot over 70% from the charity stripe during the regular season but seemed to have a free throw meltdown Thursday in San Jose. To their credit, the Commodores did overcome a mighty second half deficit of 44-36 to gain control of the game. Freshman John Jenkins carried Vanderbilt with 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Murray State, a dismal 1-13 all-time at the big dance, made just 9-of-17 from the line. The Racers were shoddy from the field too, hitting just 41.7% compared to Vandy’s 44%. Still, Murray State overcame a 7-0 Vanderbilt burst in the final four minutes. Isaiah Canaan and Jenkins hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Racers to regain the lead. Festus Ezeli missed his only two free throw attempts for Vanderbilt with less than three minutes, and they proved costly. Jenkins notched a trey with 2:51 to play to key the Murray State late rally. Vanderbilt took the lead again with 12.7 ticks. Jermaine Beal collected a pair of free throws for the Commodores and Jenkins missed a rushed 3-point attempt for 31-4 Murray State. The ball skidded out of bounds on the muffed Jenkins’ trey. It was ruled the Racers’ ball with 4.2 seconds. During the timeout, Kennedy instituted the miracle play that would set up the game-deciding shot. Jeffrey McClain swung an under-the-basket shot to Miles, who relayed the pass to Thomas. Thomas nailed a 15 footer in stunning fashion to complete the vivacious victory. Murray State faces Butler this Saturday in the next round.

Parting Points: Huge first day at the tournament. Georgetown was rocked by Ohio, Villanova escapes a scare from Robert Morris, and Notre Dame implodes against ODU, are just some of the highlights.