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Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Odds, Preview, and Picks

John Perrotto

by John Perrotto in College Basketball

Updated Oct 4, 2022 · 5:46 AM PDT

Murray State's Tevin Brown driving past a defender
Murray State's Tevin Brown (10) heads to the basket as Southeast Missouri State's Eric Reed Jr. (3) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Murray State won 70-68. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
  • Riding an 18-game win streak, Murray State is a -175 favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
  • The championship game is set for Saturday night and will be televised by ESPN2
  • Below, see the OVC Tournament odds and best bets

After becoming the sixth team in history to go through the Ohio Valley Conference regular season undefeated, Murray State is a heavy favorite to win the OVC Tournament, which runs Wednesday-Saturday (Mar. 2-5) at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

As a -175 pick, Murray State has an implied win probability of 63.64%. #2 seed Belmont is the second choice +200, giving the Bruins a 33.33% IWP.

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Odds

Team Odds
#1 Murray State -175
#2 Belmont +200
#3 Morehead State +900
#4 Southeast Missouri State +1800
#5 Tennessee State +4700
#6 Austin Peay +15000
#8 SIU-Edwardsville +50000
#7 Tennessee Tech +85000

Odds as of February 27th at FanDuel Sportsbook. See SBD’s college basketball odds page for individual game odds.

 

The #1-seeded Murray State Racers (28-2) and #2 Belmont Bruins (25-6) have double byes into Friday night’s semifinals.

The tournament begins Wednesday night with two first-round games: #5 Tennessee State (13-17) meets #8 Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (11-20) at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by #6 Austin Peay (12-16) facing #7 Tennessee Tech (10-20) at 10 p.m.

The second round is set for Thursday night followed by the semifinals on Friday night and the championship game on Saturday night, which will be televised by ESPN2.

While Ohio online sports betting has yet to commence, look for it to get underway later in 2022.

Murray State Heavy Favorites

Murray State enters the tournament on an 18-game winning streak and has star power in junior forward KJ Williams and junior guard Tevin Brown.

Williams leads the OVC in scoring at 18.1 points a game, is second in rebounding with an 8.5 average and his 54.3 field goal percentage ranks third.

He has scored at least 20 points five times in the last six games for the Racers and 12 times this season. He also has recorded 10 double-doubles.

Brown is fifth in scoring with a 16.5 average and pulling down 5.5 rebounds and dishing 3.0 assists a game. He has scored in double figures in 28 of 30 games.

Sophomore guard Justice Hill runs the offense and has averages of 13.0 points and 5.1 assists. He scored nine straight points in the final three minutes Saturday as Murray State rallied for a 70-68 victory at Southeast Missouri State to complete its unbeaten regular season.

Murray State is the first team to go 18-0 in an OVC season as the conference expanded its schedule by two games last season. The Racers were also the last team in the conference with an unbeaten regular season in 2014-15.

Murray State’s two losses this season have been to East Tennessee State and Auburn, which has +1100 odds to win the NCAA Tournament and Final Four odds of +230. The Racers are currently projected as a #8 seed in SBD’s March Madness bracket.

Belmont Biggest Threat to Racers

Belmont has won 11 of its last 12 games but the one loss in that span was decisive. The Bruins were hammered 76-43 at Murray State last Thursday.

Junior Ben Sheppard is Belmont’s top scorer at 16.3 points a game and scored a game-high 24 on Saturday in an 87-67 victory over Tennessee State. He has seven 20-point games this season and reached that mark four times in the last eight games.

Senior center Nick Muszynski has averages of 15.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games and tops the OVC in field goal shooting with 57.2% mark.

Freshman guard Will Richard is scoring 11.8 points and pulling down 5.9 rebounds per game.

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Others to Watch

The #3 seed is Morehead State (21-10), which has standout freshman forward Johni Broome but has also lost four of its last six games.

Broome is averaging a double-double with 16.5 points and 10.6 rebounds and has reached double figures in both categories in 20 games. He leads the OVC in rebounding and blocked shots, with 4.0 a game, and his 55.8 field goal percentage is second.

Eagles junior guard Skyelar Porter is scoring 10.6 points and pulling down 5.1 rebounds a game. At 6.0 assists a game, sophomore guard Ta’lon Cooper tops the conference.

Tennessee State had won three in a row before losing at Belmont. The Tigers are led by senior guard Carlos Marshall Jr., who has a 12.9 season scoring average and 38 points total in the last two games, including 17 on Saturday.

Hard to Buck Murray State

Murray State is clearly the class of the OVC, though Belmont is also a potential NCAA Tournament team, and the pick here despite being the heavy favorite. If you’re looking for a value play, it might be worth taking a small shot on Tennessee State at +47000.

All Conference Tournament Previews:

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