When Morehead State takes the court against West Virginia on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament round of 64, it will be exactly 10 years and two days since the Big Dance yielded the most electrifying moment in MSU sports history.
It was March 17, 2011, when Demonte Harper rose off the floor and drained a three-pointer from the top with 4.2 seconds left to give Coach Donnie Tyndall’s Eagles a 62-61 NCAA tourney stunner over intrastate power Louisville.
Now that Preston Spradlin, Johni Broome and Co. have returned Morehead State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the magic that was 2011, can that history help the Eagles produce a repeat?
“I think the biggest thing for us is finding a common theme with teams (that pulled NCAA Tournament upsets), whether it was Donnie’s team in 2011 or Stephen F. Austin (against West Virginia in 2016),” says Spradlin, the fifth-year Morehead State head coach. “I think the common themes are toughness and togetherness, which hits home with what we’ve got.”
No one has to explain to any fan old enough to remember “Morehead State 62, Louisville 61” what is at stake for the No. 14 seed Eagles (23-7) when they tip off Friday around 9:50 p.m at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis vs. the No. 3 seed Mountaineers (18-9).
Once attained, a moment of NCAA Tournament glory lasts forever.
‘It gives me the chills’
The origin of Morehead State’s defeat of Louisville in the 2011 NCAA Tournament reached back to the 2009 tourney.
In 2009, U of L, as the No. 1 overall seed, faced No. 16 Morehead State in the round of 64. Though the Cardinals won handily, 74-54, they led only 35-33 at halftime.
“I think our team was a little more confident coming into (the 2011) game because we had played (Louisville) before and knowing we had hung with them for a half,” said Tyndall, the former Morehead State head man.
In the game, Louisville did what Rick Pitino-coached teams are known for: The Cardinals “took away” MSU’s best offensive players.
Though Morehead State star Kenneth Faried had a double-double, 12 points, 17 rebounds, he made only four of 17 shots. Standout guard Harper went 3-of-10 shooting and was 0-of-5 on three-point tries — until his fateful final shot.
It was MSU’s “other guys,” especially wing Terrance Hill (23 points, eight rebounds, three steals) and point guard Ty Proffitt (13 points) who put Morehead State in position to win.
After Harper hit the shot that felled the giant, Tyndall told the media he had dreamed the previous night of that exact ending.
“I really didn’t have a dream,” says Tyndall, now the head coach at Chipola College, a Florida juco. “I was up until 4 in the morning (the night before the game) putting all my thoughts and notes together. I literally said to myself, ‘If we are down two and have the ball late we are going to try to win this thing and not go to overtime.’”
So when Morehead State found itself with the ball down two in the final minute vs. U of L, Tyndall had already played out that exact scenario in his mind.
He told Harper in the final huddle not to drive the ball but “to pull up and hit a three and let’s win this thing.”
Harper’s reply was to the point: “I got you, Coach.”
Says Tyndall: “To this day, thinking about that, it gives me the chills.”
Ghosts of 2011?
The 2020-21 Morehead State Eagles will enter the NCAA Tournament having won 19 of their past 20 games.
“Sometimes you will see a team that goes to the (conference) tournament and they just hit a heater, get momentum, win three or four games and off they go to the Big Dance,” says Morehead State Athletics Director Jaime Gordon. “That’s not the case with our team. They’ve shown sustained success and hard work. Preston has done an outstanding coaching job with this team all year.”
The urge to compare and contrast the current Eagles with the MSU team that shocked Louisville is irresistible.
Notably, each team had a standout post player who came to Morehead as a diamond-in-the-rough and developed into a star.
The 6-foot-8 Faried in 2011 was a dynamic athlete who rebounded and defended with ferocity.
Broome in 2021 lacks Faried’s bounce. But, at 6-10, he is taller and, even as a freshman, has shown more polish as a post scorer.
“Preston’s got a special player, like we had with Kenneth,” Tyndall says. “They are a lot different as players. Broome is more of a ‘position’ guy. Unbelievable hands. He’s not the athlete that Kenneth was, but he’s got that same nose for the ball (as a rebounder) and that mental instinct to go get it like Kenneth would do.”
With Bob Huggins and West Virginia looming, Spradlin says the inspiration that MSU’s 2011 NCAA tourney upset provides is that it reinforces the strengths Morehead State’s 2021 team brings to the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s more of a reminder to our guys that we’ve got the recipe to come down here and win,” Spradlin said. “We are not coming here to just say we made the NCAA Tournament. We’re coming … here to play our best basketball and to win games.”
Friday
No. 14 seed Morehead State vs. No. 3 seed West Virginia
What: NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional round-of-64 game
When: 9:50 pm.
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
TV: TruTV
Records: Morehead State 23-7, West Virginia 18-9
Series: West Virginia leads 3-0.
Last meeting: West Virginia won 83-48 on Nov. 22, 2011, in Charleston, W.Va.