Saturday, March 1st, 8:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Regional Special Events Center (8,600) -- Murray, Kentucky. Television: None. Home Record: UT-Martin 7-6, MSU 12-2. Away Record: UT-Martin 8-8, MSU 4-9. Neutral Record: UT-Martin 1-0, MSU 0-1. Conference Record: UT-Martin 11-8, MSU 12-7. Series Record: Murray State leads, 33-2.

GAME NOTES: In a battle for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks travel to the Regional Special Events Center to do battle with the Murray State Racers tonight. Tennessee-Martin has picked the perfect time of the season to play its hottest stretch of basketball. The Skyhawks have rattled off six straight victories to get within striking distance of the second seed in the OVC Tournament. The squad stepped out of conference and defeated Elon, 81-77 on the road, and now trails just Morehead State and tonight's opponent, Murray State, in the league standings. The Racers were shocked by Tennessee Tech, 71-66 on Thursday night, marking their first back-to-back defeats since the beginning of the calendar year. MSU can still clinch the second seed with a victory tonight at home, where the Racers have lost just twice in 14 bouts. MSU has owned the Skyhawks in the all-time series, coming away victorious in all but two of the 34 meetings, including a 76-72 decision back on February 3rd.

The triumvirate of Lester Hudson, Gerald Robinson and Marquis Weddle has spearheaded UT-Martin's successful campaign. The three leading scorers have paced the Skyhawks to a conference-leading 77.4 ppg. Robinson dropped 25 points and 10 rebounds in the victory over Elon, while Hudson and Weddle contributed 21 and 20 points, respectively. Robinson has been on a roll lately, as he is now averaging 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing. Hudson also picked off nine rebounds and distributed four assists in the latest win. The dynamic guard ranks among the national leaders with 25.7 ppg, while leading the team with 133 assists and pulling down 7.8 rpg. Weddle (16.5 ppg) shouldn't be looked over either, as he has produced two 30-point games this season.

Bruce Carter has played well in Murray State's recent skein, leading the Racers in scoring in each of the past six games. He and Danero Thomas logged 15 points in the loss to Tennessee Tech. Carter is connecting on 48.8 percent from the floor en route to team-highs of 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Thomas is chipping in 12.3 points and 4.6 boards per game of his own, while Tyler Holloway, who is a .473 three-point field goal shooter, is netting 11.2 ppg. These three have paced MSU to a league-best .488 field goal percentage. The defense has let the squad down in recent games, giving up 75.0 ppg in three recent losses. Still, opponents are shooting just 43.1 percent from the floor against MSU.

UT-Martin has had a terrible history against the Racers. However, the Skyhawks have had a week to prepare for tonight's showdown, while Murray State is coming off a tough loss. Expect a close contest, but for one of Tennessee-Martin's sharpshooters to pull out the victory in the end.

Predicted Outcome

Tennessee-Martin 77, Murray State 76