(The headline below is as actually was in the paper, it should have read “MTSU’s Beck made Believer of Simpson)
From the Tennessean:
MTSU’s Beck of Simpson Made Believer
By John Lewis Pitts
With 7:07 remaining and his team leading storied University of Kentucky 44-40 last night, Stan Simpson looked to Jerry Beck for a word of advice.
“He walked over and I asked him ‘Are we gonna take it, Jerry? If not, then I’m gonna sit down here and take a rest.’ He said to me ‘We’re gonna win it.’ And I believed him,” the Middle Tennessee State Coach told reporters after last night’s shocking 50-44 triumph in the first round of the NCAA Mideast Region.
In the days leading up to last night’s contest, Raider players had declared, in a low-key way, that they would not be intimidated by the carnival atmosphere that surrounds the NCAA tourney.
They were right.
“When we came over here to practice on Wednesday, Coach kinda flet like we were a little shook up about this game. And yeah, I was a little shook up about it, about the atmosphere here,” said Middle Tennessee senior Lucious Hailey, a 6-5 wing who led the squad with five blocked shots.
“But when we stepped out there tonight and heard that crowd, I felt right at home. I saw the crowd, but I didn’t see them. I was comfortable and I guess the rest of the did, too.”
“I came to play,” declared Jerry Beck, the matter of fact, muscular 6-7 forward who dominated the backboards in the contest with 10 rebounds. “We shoed them in the first half that we could hang with them, and at the half coach came in and just told us that we’d have to stay loose, be patient on offense and continue to be aggressive on the backboards,” Beck added, in the surprisingly quiet MTSU locker room.
Perhaps the reality of the Blue Raiders’ first NCAA tournament victory has not yet set in when the young men left the Memorial Gymnasium floor.
Even cool and confident Rick Campbell, who led the winning effort with 19 points, was shaking his head, trying to soak it all in.
“Like I’ve said before, I don’t really get too emotional about a game like this one,” the 6-4 shooter said. “We just go out and try to play hard, work hard and not worry about all the talk.”
In fact, Campbell thought his team should have won by an even bigger margin, but for the 10-of-18 performance at the foul line.
“At one time, I thought we should have been up by 10 points. Kentucky, I think they got in a hurry when they were down in the second half and realized they needed to score. They couldn’t make it, and it really frustrated them,” Campbell added.
The Raider’s game plan was a familiar one to MTSU fans who’d watched the squad finish the regular season with four consecutive victories, then sweep to a defensively-oriented triumph in the OVC’s post season tournament.
“We were just trying to do the things we’ve been doing all season,” said Campbell. “We came in with a regular old game plan, as if we had been playing anybody else.”
And as has been the case in 26 of 29 games, the Raiders hit the back boards with a vengeance from the 6-7 Beck to 5-10 Ed “Pancakes” Perry, the smallest man on the court last night.
“When UK shot the ball, it seemed to me I was a little quicker than them,” reflected Beck, a three-time All-OVC selection and two-time Player of the Year. “We beat them to the boards and boxed them out…it feels great to win,” added Beck, one of four seniors in the Raiders’ starting lineup.
“I just knew I’d have to play the best game I could against Turpin, who’s a fine player,” said Chris Harris, the 6-6 senior who gave up five inches in height to Kentucky’s big post man. “They weren’t boxing out…Jerry and I were determined to claim everything that came off of the boards.”
Of the physical play inside, Harris – who was involved in a leaning match with Turpin for much of the night – noted that “we can dish it out, as well as take it.”
But it was Perry, the lone MTSU junior on the floor, who quickly put things into perspective for the squad. “Just because we won tonight won’t mean a thing as far as Louisville goes. You have to suck it up and play one game at a time. We’ll go to work (today) and by Saturday, we’ll be ready.”
Perry had lost his starting job at one point in the season, but his progress through the latter stages of the season as an offensive performer has mirrored MTSU’s success. “I know every NCAA team has to have a good point guard,” he said. “There has to be somebody out there to keep things under control, and I knew I’d have to play my best and do the things I could do to contribute to the team.”
MTSU fell behind8-0 in the early going, but the squad had trailed Western Kentucky 6-0 in the OVC Tourney final before roaring back for a 54-52 victory.
“We may have been a little tight at first,” said Harris. “We were patient, though, and we didn’t panic. I never thought we were out of the game, not that early. It never entered my mind.”
“We just seem to keep getting better and better,” big junior reserve Wardell “Poundcakes” Perry noted. The 6-9 muscleman played the part of Melvin Turpin in the Raider practice sessions and put in five minutes of playing time in the first half.
Another Raider reserve, Dwayne Dorsey, initiated the final MTSU basket of the night with his outlet pass to Perry, which wound up as a Campbell lay-up with 11 seconds left. “I knew we would get them sooner or later…it was our time,” he added.
Among those on hand to celebrate the victory were MTSU Athletic Director Jimmy Earle and OVC Commissioner James Delany.
“It was just a super win, just super…they played their hearts out,” said Earle, who embraced Simpson, his former long-time assistant, just seconds after the buzzer went off to seal MTSU’s triumph.
