Ohio Valley Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
by Neal Heston
Only one word can describe the way the season ended for the Ohio Valley Conference: disappointment. The first team to survive through league play undefeated in over three decades didn’t even qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and the lone team to go dancing was greeted with a first round exit.
Samford and Jacksonville State each debuted nicely during their first season with the OVC. Each squeezed through for a berth in the conference tournament with identical 7-9 conference marks.
Murray State enjoyed its continued dominance of the Ohio Valley in 2003-04, earning a 12th league title and appearance in the NCAA Tourney. The Racer’s Cuthbert Victor even captured the attention of the Associated Press as the senior forward was selected as an honorable mention for the All-American team. Victor was in the nation’s top 10 for rebounding and field goal percentage and also finished his Racer career with the team record for blocked shots.
Lesson learned for the Govs
We’ve all heard the saying. “The regular season doesn’t mean a thing once the postseason begins.” Nobody knows that better than the Austin Peay Governors. The Governors lived up to their preseason expectations as they captured the OVC crown by storming through the regular season with a 16-0 mark. After surviving two close calls in the OVC quarterfinals and semifinals, any hope of an NCAA Tournament appearance was lost when Murray State earned the conference’s automatic berth by winning the championship, 66-60.
Austin Peay came close and led by as many as seven in the OVC title game, but the Racers were just too much. Murray State completed the game on a 16-6 run and Cuthbert Victor was named Tournament MVP as he scored 13 points to go along with nine boards.
Postseason ups and downs
Murray State (NCAA Tournament)
This game was supposed to be the sure bet for an upset. The Racers were the best of the “no-name” schools and were thought by many to make a Cinderella run. Big Ten champion Illinois would have no part of that as the Illini smacked the Racers around with a 72-53 win in the first round. Murray State, making its 12th appearance in the NCAA, never got any closer than six points during the entire contest. Cuthbert Victor tallied 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but he was the only Racer clicking as the Murray State team shot just 34 percent from the field.
Austin Peay (NIT)
Not reaching the NCAA Tournament may have been a disappointment for the Governors, but they did win their first-ever NIT contest over Belmont in the opening round. It was Austin Peay’s first postseason victory since 1987, when ironically for the OVC, the Governors took down Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
No player or coach on this season’s team will probably ever use the numbers 66 or 60 on their lottery ticket. The same score that crushed NCAA hopes in the OVC Tournament also ended the Governor’s season. George Mason sent Austin Peay home with a 66-60 win in the NIT’s first round. The Governors overcame an early 10-point deficit but couldn’t climb over the hill.
Handin’ Out the Hardware – Postseason Awards
Player of the Year:
Cuthbert Victor, Murray State (also named All-American Honorable Mention by AP)
Newcomer of the Year:
Willie Jenkins, Tennessee Tech
Freshman of the Year:
Bruce Prive, Tennessee State
Coach of the Year:
Dave Loos, Austin Peay
First Team All-OVC
Cuthbert Victor, Murray State
Adrian Henning, Austin Peay
Ricky Minard, Morehead State
Willie Jenkins, Tennessee Tech
Josh Lewis, Austin Peay
Recapping the Ohio Valley
Austin Peay (22-10, 16-0)
Team MVP: Adrian Henning, 13.7 ppg
Leading Scorer: Henning, 13.7 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Josh Lewis, 7.4 rpg
Assists Leader: Anthony Davis, 78
The preseason favorite of the OVC didn’t disappoint in one aspect this season. In another aspect, disappointment was an understatement. The Governors, who returned five starters from last season’s NCAA squad, stormed through the conference slate 16-0 but were taken down by the Murray State Racers in the conference championship. With the tournament loss, so ended the Gov’s shot at another NCAA bid. That might not have been the case had Austin Peay given a stronger showing against opponents outside the Ohio Valley, but the Governors managed just a 4-9 record outside the conference.
Despite not reaching the NCAA in 2004, Austin Peay didn’t go down easily in the NIT, earning its first postseason victory in 17 seasons with a win over Belmont in the opening round. George Mason put the Governors to sleep in the first round though with a 66-60 win.
Murray State (28-6, 14-2)
Team MVP: Cuthbert Victor, 14.6 ppg
Leading Scorer: Victor, 14.6 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Victor, 10.2 rpg
Assists Leader: Adam Chiles, 133
The third time is a charm. Murray State sat behind Austin Peay all season, letting the Governors grab all the attention with the unblemished conference mark. But when the game really mattered, the Racers delivered. Murray State sailed through the OVC tournament and rallied in the championship game to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA.
Under first year coach Mick Cronin, Murray State fielded a very competitive team, which posted quality wins over Southern Mississippi, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky. Near upsets were nearly put in the books against powerhouses, Louisville and Pittsburgh as well. Big Ten champion Illinois was not impressed by those quality outings by Murray State and handed the Racers a sour end to the season with a 19-point victory in the first round of the NCAA.
Morehead State (16-13, 10-6)
Team MVP: Ricky Minard, 21.8 ppg
Leading Scorer: Minard, 21.8 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Minard, 7.3 rpg
Assists Leader: Minard, 147
Ricky Minard was the story for the Eagles this season. Too bad for Morehead State that he is a senior. Minard led the team in all major categories this year: scoring, rebounding and assists.
Though the early schedule was filled with cupcakes, Morehead State struggled out of the gates to a 7-7 mark before finishing with a strong February. A 6-3 run in the regular season’s final month was enough to clinch third in the OVC.
Eastern Kentucky (14-15, 8-8)
Team MVP: Matt Witt, 15.6 ppg
Leading Scorer: Witt, 15.6 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Michael Haney, 6.3 rpg
Assists Leader: Witt, 160
The Colonels marched into the season with three early losses but relished in the fact that none of them was greater than six points. That was the basics of this squad in the 2003-04 campaign – competitiveness. Eastern Kentucky was able to stay in its contest but remained a .500 ballclub throughout the season.
Samford (12-16, 7-9)
Team MVP: Phillip Ramelli, 13.1 ppg
Leading Scorer: Ramelli, 13.1 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Ramelli, 5.2 rpg
Assists Leader: Jerry Smith, 95
Fifth place- not bad for the first year in the Ohio Valley. Probably even more impressive was the fact that the newbies defeated OVC powerhouse Murray State – at Murray State. Quality outings were put up early on during the season by a Samford team, who by the way made the cut for EA Sport’s March Madness 2004. Winthrop fell victim to the Bulldogs and Big Ten power Purdue almost fell as well. To make a long story short, any team that looked past this Bulldog team found themselves in trouble very quickly.
Jacksonville State (14-14, 7-9)
Team MVP: Trent Eager, 13.4 ppg
Leading Scorer: Eager, 13.4 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Eager, 6 rpg
Assists Leader: Walker Russell, 182
Just behind first-year Samford was Jacksonville State in sixth place. After stepping into the OVC schedule with three quick losses, the Gamecocks were able to play .500 ball from then on to earn a spot in the conference tournament. Unfortunately for Jacksonville State, the first roadblock in the OVC tourney was a hot Morehead State team, who sent the OVC “rookies” home with an 82-68 opening round loss.
Tennessee Tech (13-15, 7-9)
Team MVP: Willie Jenkins, 19.5 ppg
Leading Scorer: Jenkins, 19.5 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Jenkins, 7.2 rpg
Assists Leader: Will Moore, 135
The early schedule was not exactly impressive for the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. Nevertheless, Tech did what it was supposed to do with an easy schedule – win (jumping to a 3-1 start). Fortunes were looking good for the Eagles until a miserable February forced them down the ladder. Heading into the season’s final month with a 7-5 OVC mark, Tech dropped its final four contests to slip to a seventh place finish. Instead of hosting an opening round game in the conference tournament, the Golden Eagles hit the road to take on Murray State. Ouch.
Tennessee State (7-21, 6-10)
Team MVP: Bruce Price, 17.6 ppg
Leading Scorer: Price, 17.6 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Roshaun Bowens, 6.7 rpg
Assists Leader: Garnett Richardson, 173
New head coach Cy Alexander walked into the clubhouse this season that was occupied by a team not expected to do much. The numbers may have made the predictions correct (20 losses, 10 in the OVC), but the season was not a complete letdown for the Tigers. After all, they managed to qualify for the conference tournament, eeking in as the eighth seed. And the showing they gave against top-seeded Austin Peay was remarkable, nearly handing the Governors their first conference loss of the 2003-04 campaign.
Tennessee-Martin (10-18, 5-11)
Team MVP: Justin Smith, 15.7 ppg
Leading Scorer: Smith, 15.7 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Jared Newsom
Assists Leader: Tyler George, 146
The record screams mediocre, but don’t be fooled. This Skyhawks team stumbled into the season at 2-4, but when you looked at the four losses, the record seemed meaningless: San Francisco, Memphis, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. Ohio Valley opponents were not scared off by the impressive schedule faced by the Skyhawks. Tennessee Martin stumbled into the conference slate at 0-3 and were never able to recover enough to qualify for the OVC tournament.
Southeast Missouri State (11-16, 4-12)
Team MVP: Derek Winans, 14.5 ppg
Leading Scorer: Winans, 14.5 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Brandon Griffin, 7.4 rpg
Assists Leader: Griffin, 75
If not for the Ohio Valley, the season wasn’t so bad for the Indians. Outside the OVC: 7-4; inside: well, not good (4-12). The season began in a promising fashion as Southeast Missouri defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay and continued two weeks later with a near-miss against Missouri Valley Conference powerhouse Southern Illinois. But OVC opponents took advantage of SEMS’s inability to win close games. Eight of the 12 conference losses for the Tigers came by six points or less. A couple shots here and there were the difference between being a cellar dweller in the conference or one of the scariest teams in the OVC.
Eastern Illinois (6-21, 4-12)
Team MVP: Josh Gomes, 13.6 ppg
Leading Scorer: Gomes, 13.6 ppg
Leading Rebounder: Jesse Mackinson, 5.3 rpg
Assists Leader: Derik Hollyfield, 73
The Panthers started the season against Northern Illinois, nationally-ranked Wisconsin and Horizon Conference powerhouse Illinois-Chicago. Needless to say, Eastern Illinois limped out to an 0-3 start. By the end of January, the cats had a miserable 3-15 mark and had earned just one victory over a Division I team (Tennessee Tech on Jan. 8). By then, it was too late for Eastern Illinois to salvage any hopes of the conference tournament. The Panthers missed the cut for the first time since joining the OVC seven seasons ago.
