In 2010, 22 years to the date of the 1988 win, the Racers beat Vanderbilt and lost to eventual runner-up Butler in the second round.

[5] Replacing Racer Arena was the CFSB Center, the current home of Murray State men's basketball.

[7] In their prestige system, ESPN ranked Murray State the 30th best programs from 1984 to 2008, breaking a tie with Villanova due to a higher winning percentage.

[11] In his final season, he led the Thoroughbreds to the title game of the 1941 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament, at which time they lost to the San Diego State Aztecs 36–34.

[3] Since he retired in 1941, he has maintained his position as the all-time winningest coach in Murray State basketball history, with a career record of 267–101.

[11] Rice Mountjoy was hired as the next men's basketball coach from Danville High School, where he was athletic director.

[12] That season was marked by strong play from early jump shot proponent Joe Fulks, who transferred from Millsaps College.

[16] Hodges left Murray in May 1954 for the University of Idaho in the Pacific Coast Conference,[17] where success largely eluded him.

In 1958, Murray State hired Cal Luther, who had served the previous four seasons as head coach at DePauw.

The standing joke at the university was the over and under of Cal throwing off his jacket during a game due to a call by a ref, or from frustration with a player.

[21] Ron Greene returned to his alma mater fresh off earning the AP Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year award at Mississippi State in 1978.

A highlight of the 1981–82 season came when Murray State traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to play against Notre Dame.

In his first year as coach of the Racers, Anderson led the team to a 27–6 record, an Ohio Valley Conference championship, and an NCAA tournament appearance.

Over the next three years under Anderson, the success of the Racer basketball program steadily declined, culminating in a low point during the 2002–03 season.

[33] Previously an assistant at Cincinnati (1997–2001) under Bob Huggins and at Louisville (2001–03) under Rick Pitino, Mick Cronin was introduced as the new head coach of the Racers on April 5, 2003.

In the 2006 tournament, junior guard Trey Pearson missed a critical 3-point shot in the final seconds of the first-round game against No.

The Racers won their first-round game in the 2010 NCAA tournament in dramatic fashion, defeating fourth-seeded Vanderbilt 66–65 on a buzzer-beating jump shot by senior Danero Thomas.

In May 2011, Billy Kennedy announced that he was leaving Murray State to accept the head coach position at Texas A&M University.

Two days later, Murray State answered with a definitive win at home against rival Austin Peay 82–63, bringing its record to 24–1.

[44] On February 18, Murray State hosted St. Mary's College in a much-anticipated Bracketbuster event, and the last home game of the season.

The game also featured a national TV audience on ESPN with legendary announcers Dave O'Brien and Dick Vitale calling the action.

[45] As the historic 2011–12 season came to a close, the Murray State men's basketball program was the recipient of several high-profile awards.

Matt has the talent and integrity to continue the momentum we've built, put his own stamp on the program, and meet the expectations that come with being the head coach at Murray State.

[58] The 2018–19 season saw the Racers win 15 of their first 17 games, with the only losses to Southeastern Conference opponents Alabama and eventual Final Four participant Auburn, both on the road.

12 seed and defeated Marquette of the Big East Conference, 83–64, in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 21 behind a triple-double from Morant (17 points, 11 rebounds, 16 assists).

After the season, Morant was named a consensus First Team All-American after becoming the first player in NCAA history to average at least 20 points and 10 assists per game (24.5 ppg, 10 apg).

[60] Sophomores Tevin Brown and KJ Williams were named to the All-OVC First Team prior to entering the 2020 OVC Tournament.

"As we envisioned the ideal profile for the next Murray State Men's Basketball head coach, it remained abundantly clear a commitment to character, integrity, student-athlete development, community, family and competitive excellence were critically important," said Murray State Director of Athletics, Kevin Saal.

His skill set, experience and genuine love for Murray State will effectively guide our program as we begin our Missouri Valley Conference journey.

For the rest of the Racers' OVC tenure, their primary in-conference rivalry was with Austin Peay State University, a school closer geographically than WKU.