COACH: Donnie Tyndall, five years at Morehead State, two years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: Automatic bid (Ohio Valley tournament champion).
GO-TO GUYS: Kenneth Faried, a.k.a. the RastaBeast, is a guy most basketball fans were hoping would make it to the tournament. A bona fide All-America candidate, Faried has made great strides as an offensive player, averaging 17.6 points on 64.4 percent field goal shooting in the regular season. But his game is most dynamic on the defensive end -- he leads the nation with 14.5 rebounds per game and also blocked 79 shots. Senior guard Demonte Harper is streaky enough that he can win a game if he gets going in the right direction. Harper was named Ohio Valley Conference tournament Most Valuable Player after riddling Tennessee Tech for 27 points in the title game. He averaged 16 points per game, canning 39.9 percent from the 3-point arc.
X FACTOR: How will the Eagles' role players handle the bright lights and immense pressure of the tournament? When guys like Terrance Hill, Ty Proffitt and Drew Kelly score enough to help Faried and Harper, this becomes a dangerous team. Hill averaged 10.4 points and hit 34 percent of his 3s, although his shot selection is at times the call of the wild. Proffitt is a Notre Dame transfer who sank 38 percent of his 3s and rarely turns the ball over, while Kelly is capable of a 20-point night when he sees a big bucket.
STRENGTHS: Defense and rebounding, largely because of Faried's incredible energy. Playing a 2-3 matchup zone with Faried anchoring the middle and discouraging dribble penetration, Morehead State limits opponents to 41.6 percent shooting and then closes out possessions with a rebound, outrebounding the opposition by 9.3 per game. Offensively, it shoots nearly 46 percent from the floor and its top four 3-point shooters are all between 34 and 39.9 percent, mainly because Faried commands double-teams which give jump-shooters clean looks from deep.
WEAKNESSES: Depth could be a problem if foul trouble or an injury hits. Tyndall shortened his rotation to seven players for big games, and while longer TV timeouts will provide extra rest, a deeper opponent could represent a bad matchup. Faried is not a great foul shooter, making less than 58 percent of his free throws. A team looking to minimize his impact could take fouls and gamble that he won't win a game at the foul line in the second half.
