Pikeville, KY – The Mid-South Conference released the opening round bracket for the 2022 MSC Men's Basketball Tournament Sunday, which features the eighth-seeded Bears hosting nine seed Campbellsville in the opening round.
UPIKE (16-12, 9-11 MSC) will host the Tigers as the higher seed and the matchup is set for Tuesday, February 22nd at 6PM at the UPIKE Gym.
The Bears enter the tournament a game back from seven-seed Shawnee State after ending the regular season on a high note with an 86-80 win over Bethel on Saturday. The win came much needed as the Bears were in the midst of a three-game losing streak entering the game against the Wildcats.
(8) Thomas More (25-3, 19-2 MSC) nabbed the top seed while (RV) Tennessee Southern (21-9, 16-6 MSC) was seeded second. (12) Georgetown (22-7, 15-7 MSC) is the third seed, and Cumberland University is the fourth. All of the top four seeds automatically advance to the quarterfinals which are scheduled for Saturday, February 26th in Bowling Green, KY. Semifinals will follow on Sunday, February 27th with the finals on Monday, February 28th.
The Matchup
Making things more interesting is the fact that the teams split in the regular-season series, with two very different results. In the first contest back in November, UPIKE came out on top after an overtime thriller in Pikeville by a final score of 92-87. The Bears shot a stellar 50% from the field in the contest and were led by
Darius Love with 29 points. UPIKE's five turnovers in the contest are tied for their lowest of any conference game this season.
In the second matchup, it was Campbellsville who took the win 62-55 as they held the Bears to just 36.4% from the floor.
Maurice Dickson began his ascent as a main scoring threat against the Tigers, tying his then season-high of 17 points.
Recent History
The Bears have faced the Tigers in the MSC Tournament twice in the last five seasons including last spring in the opening round where the Bears took an 84-74 win to advance to the Quarterfinals. In 2018, the Tigers won a barnburner in the semifinals by a score of 67-65.
The Bears are 7-3 in the last 10 contests with Campbellsville dating back to 2018 and have won 12 straight against the Tigers when playing at home.
