1990–91 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

1990–91 Murray State Racers men's basketball
1990–91 Murray State Racers men's basketball
Puerto Rico Classic champions; Ohio Valley Regular season champions; Ohio Valley tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	24–9 (10–2 OVC)
Head coach	Steve Newton (6th season);
Home arena	Racer Arena
	Seasons ← 1989–90 1991–92 →

1990–91 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Murray State †	10	–	2	.833	24	–	9	.727
Eastern Kentucky	9	–	3	.750	19	–	10	.655
Tennessee Tech	6	–	6	.500	12	–	16	.429
Austin Peay	6	–	6	.500	15	–	14	.517
Middle Tennessee	6	–	6	.500	21	–	9	.700
Morehead State	4	–	8	.333	16	–	13	.552
Tennessee State	1	–	11	.083	5	–	23	.179

† 1991 OVC tournament^[1] winner

The 1990–91 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University during the 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by head coach Steve Newton, played their home games at Racer Arena in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 24–9, 10–2 in OVC play to win the OVC regular season championship. They defeated Middle Tennessee to win the OVC tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament. As No. 14 seed in the Southeast region, the Racers battled No. 3 seed Alabama before losing 89–79.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	54	Popeye Jones	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	Dresden HS	Dresden, TN

Head coach

Steve Newton (Indiana State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 23, 1990*		vs. Bucknell Puerto Rico Classic	W 81–68	1–0	Mario Morales Coliseum Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Nov 24, 1990*		vs. Old Dominion Puerto Rico Classic	W 76–61	2–0	Mario Morales Coliseum Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Nov 25, 1990*		vs. Nebraska Puerto Rico Classic	W 81–79	3–0	Mario Morales Coliseum Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Nov 28, 1990*		Georgia Southern	W 78–61	4–0	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Dec 1, 1990*		Western Kentucky	W 97–91	5–0	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Dec 4, 1990*		at Memphis State	L 78–85	5–1	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 7, 1990*		vs. Texas Southern Citizens Bank Classic	W 79–65	6–1	Convocation Center Jonesboro, Arkansas
Dec 8, 1990*		at Arkansas State Citizens Bank Classic	L 62–63	6–2	Convocation Center Jonesboro, Arkansas
Dec 14, 1990*		at Southern Illinois	W 83–77	7–2	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 17, 1990*		Prairie View A&M	W 103–52	8–2	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Dec 21, 1990*		vs. U.S. International U.S. Air Classic	W 103–55	9–2	Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio
Dec 22, 1990*		at Wright State U.S. Air Classic	L 76–79	9–3	Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio
Dec 28, 1990*		vs. South Alabama BMA Holiday Classic	W 88–78 ^OT	10–3	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 29, 1990*		vs. Kansas State BMA Holiday Classic	L 50–67	10–4	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 2, 1991*		North Alabama	L 70–88	10–5	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Jan 5, 1991		Austin Peay	W 71–66	11–5 (1–0)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Jan 8, 1991*		at Georgia Southern	L 63–66	11–6	Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia
Jan 12, 1991*		IUPUI	W 84–52	12–6	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Jan 14, 1991		at Middle Tennessee State	W 70–66	13–6 (2–0)	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Jan 19, 1991		Tennessee State	L 73–75	13–7 (2–1)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Jan 21, 1991		Tennessee Tech	W 86–74	14–7 (3–1)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Jan 26, 1991		at Morehead State	W 80–55	15–7 (4–1)	Ellis Johnson Arena Morehead, Kentucky
Jan 28, 1991		at Eastern Kentucky	L 82–87	15–8 (4–2)	McBrayer Arena Richmond, Kentucky
Feb 2, 1991		at Austin Peay	W 79–71	16–8 (5–2)	Dunn Center Clarksville, Tennessee
Feb 4, 1991*		at Prairie View A&M	W 81–68	17–8	William J. Nicks Building Prairie View, Texas
Feb 9, 1991		Eastern Kentucky	W 64–52	18–8 (6–2)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Feb 11, 1991		Morehead State	W 81–73	19–8 (7–2)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Feb 16, 1991		at Tennessee Tech	W 72–64	20–8 (8–2)	Eblen Center Cookeville, Tennessee
Feb 18, 1991		at Tennessee State	W 65–64	21–8 (9–2)	Gentry Complex Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 23, 1991		Middle Tennessee State	W 91–86	22–8 (10–2)	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
Mar 3, 1991*	(1)	(6) Morehead State Semifinal	W 89–61	23–8	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
Mar 4, 1991*	(1)	(4) Middle Tennessee State Championship Game	W 79–67	24–8	Racer Arena Murray, Kentucky
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1991*	(14 SE)	vs. (3 SE) No. 19 Alabama First Round	L 79–89	24–9	The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time.

^[3]

Awards and honors

Popeye Jones – OVC Player of the Year

References

^ sports-reference.com 1990-91 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary
^ "1990-91 Murray State Racers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
^ "2019-20 MURRAY STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK". Murray State University Athletics. Retrieved March 6, 2021.

[1] sports-reference.com 1990-91 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "1990-91 Murray State Racers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 6, 2021.

[3] "2019-20 MURRAY STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK". Murray State University Athletics. Retrieved March 6, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Murray State Racers men's basketball
Venues	Lovett Auditorium (1925–1950) Carr Health Building (1950–1954) Racer Arena (1954–1998) CFSB Center (1998–present)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

1990–91 Murray State Racers men's basketball
Puerto Rico Classic champions Ohio Valley Regular season champions Ohio Valley tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	24–9 (10–2 OVC)
Head coach	Steve Newton (6th season)
Home arena	Racer Arena
Seasons ← 1989–90 1991–92 →