Friday, March 7th, 9:30 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Municipal Auditorium (9,654) -- Nashville, Tennessee. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: TSU 7-5, MSU 14-2. Away Record: TSU 7-9, MSU 4-9. Neutral Record: TSU 0-2, MSU 0-1. Conference Record: TSU 10-10, MSU 13-7. Series Record: Murray State leads, 37-14.

GAME NOTES: The second of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals takes place tonight at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, as second-seeded Murray State confronts sixth-seeded Tennessee State. On Tuesday night, the Racers managed to get by Tennessee Tech by a mere three points in a 77-74 final at home, which means the group is now a stellar 56-29 in the tournament all-time. MSU has won a total of 13 titles in this event, compared to just two for TSU, which hasn't won since 1994. Nevertheless, the Tigers are now 9-17 in the tournament thanks to an unlikely 68-61 win over third-seeded Morehead State three nights ago. The teams split a pair of regular-season meetings, with each winning at home, which means Murray State now leads the all-time series against TCU by a count of 37-14. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the Tennessee-Martin/Austin Peay bout for the title on Saturday, with an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament being the reward.

Bruce Price led a total of four players in double figures for the Tigers as he tallied 22 points in the win over Morehead State in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Tuesday night. But beyond his scoring effort, Price also handed out eight assists and registered six steals, while Jerrell Houston tacked on 16 points. Gerald Robinson chipped in 13 and LaDarious Weaver posted 11 points off the bench for the program as well. Price has been the guy doing everything for Tennessee State this season with his team-best 18.0 ppg, thanks in large part to 178-of-253 shooting at the free-throw line. Price has also handed out a team-best 148 assists, cleared almost five rebounds per game and ranked among the nation's best with 70 steals over the course of 30 starts. Robinson and Houston produce 15.5 and 11.2 ppg, respectively, and yet the Tigers (75.2 ppg) are still being outscored by fractions of a point this year.

Bruce Carter knocked down half of his 20 field goal attempts as he finished with a double-double against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, consisting of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Kevin Thomas and Ray George were responsible for 14 points each, while Danero Thomas added seven points and eight rebounds to help the squad overcome just 4-of-15 shooting behind the three-point line and 15- of-22 at the free-throw line in the tight contest. Carter, who has at least held a share of the scoring lead for the last eight games, has produced 14.5 ppg this season to pace the group. Carter is also first in the rebounding department with better than five and a half boards per contest, while Thomas and Tyler Holloway are available for 12.0 and 10.9 ppg, respectively, on the average. The team as a whole is coming up with a shade under 73 ppg this season.

There's no reason the Racers should have struggled in their first game a few nights ago, so perhaps that will serve as a wake-up call to get Murray State up and running tonight.

Predicted Outcome

Murray State 74, Tennessee State 67