Morehead State basketball is officially the first bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Coming in as the three seed, the Morehead State Eagles took down SIU Edwardsville, UT Martin and Little Rock to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Overall, the Eagles finished the season with a 26-8 record, including a 14-4 record within the conference. Currently on a six-game winning streak, we could see this Morehead State basketball team cause a little “madness” in the NCAA Tournament.
Why Morehead State Basketball Can Cause Madness in 2024 NCAA Tournament
The Team is Well-Balanced
The biggest thing about the Eagles is that they are a very good team on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor. Scoring 75.5 points per game (PPG), they ranked 75th in the country in scoring. That ranks them 128th in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom. In fact, the Eagles have scored 70+ points 20 times this season. What helps to make that offense hum is the Eagles’ three-point shooting. Making 9.4 three-point shots per game (30th in the nation), they are 11th in the country with 318 total threes made. Along with the long shots, the Eagles also rebound the ball very well. With 39.4 rebounds per game, the Eagles rank 31st in the country and maybe even more importantly, they bring in 11.6 offensive rebounds per game. Though they get up many three-point shots every game (25.9), they make those shots count, as they are ranked 335th in the country for possessions per 40 minutes.
As for the defense, KenPom ranks the Eagles as having the 119th-best defensive efficiency in the country. Morehead State defends the three-ball very well and forces a funnel to the inside of the paint, where their big men can rack up blocks. In total, opposing teams shoot just 29.6% from the three-point line (eighth in the nation). With the mindset to funnel the ball to the middle, the Eagles have totaled 4.7 blocks per game (38th in the nation). The Eagles are a team, similar to Virginia, that is going to take their time on offense, and work for a good shot, while playing strong physical defense to force mistakes.
Morehead State Basketball is Led by Experience
The old adage for the NCAA Tournament is that experience is one of the most important parts of a team that is looking to make a run. The good thing for Morehead State is that their three leading scorers are all seniors. Riley Minx is the team’s leading scoring, as he pours in 20.8 PPG on 54.6% shooting from the field. His 20.8 PPG put him in a tie for 13th in the country in scoring average. More than just scoring, Minx hauls in 9.8 rebounds per game, staking his name as not only one of the best forwards that you have never heard of but one of the best forwards in the country, period. Minx will also come into the tournament on fire. He has scored 20+ in his last four games, including 26 points in each of the last two OVC Tournament games.
The second-leading scorer for Morehead State is guard Jordan Lathon, who was forced to miss last year with an injury. He has come back with 15.4 PPG on 43.6% shooting. Lathon shoots the three-ball at 38% and rebounds very well for a guard, bringing in six rebounds per game. The Eagles’ high-scoring senior trio concludes with guard Kalil Thomas. Thomas is averaging 12.5 PPG on 45% shooting this season. While that 45% is not the greatest, he has been shooting the three incredibly this season. At 43.5% from three, Thomas ranks eighth in the country.
Minx, Lathon and Thomas create an incredible three-level scoring trio that should be able to give any team fits. Add in another double-digit scorer with junior guard Drew Thelwell at 10 PPG and the Eagles should be able to attack any team from anywhere on the offensive side of the ball.
Still, Morehead State Basketball Has Struggled Against Good Teams
There is no doubt that Morehead State basketball could make a bit of noise in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. However, we should still keep in mind that they are true underdogs, and a big reason for this is how they have fared against good teams this year.
The NET Rankings have the Eagles ranked as the 106th-best team in the country. That 106th ranking comes on the back of a good conference record, but an average out-of-conference record. In non-conference play, Morehead State went 9-4, but all four of those losses came against Power 6 conference teams. In fact, the Eagles are 0-2 in both Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities. They opened the season by losing two of their first three games to Alabama and Purdue. Add in two more losses to Penn State and Indiana, and when you break it down, Morehead State’s best win this season came against Little Rock in the OVC Championship.
The Eagles will likely enter the NCAA Tournament at a 13-seed or lower, so they are inevitably going to be matched up with one of the top 16 teams in the country. It is hard to trust that if they do come in as the 13 or 14-seed they will win, but with their three-point shooting and exceptional inside defense, it is not out of the realm of possibilities. It is called “March Madness” for a reason.
