1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was the final event of the 1996–97 season in the Ohio Valley Conference. The tournament was held February 25–March 1, 1997, at Nashville Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1996–97
Teams8
SiteNashville Arena
Nashville, Tennessee
ChampionsMurray State (8th title)
Winning coachMark Gottfried (1st title)
← 1996
1998 →
1996–97 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Austin Peay 12 6   .667 17 14   .548
Murray State 12 6   .667 20 10   .667
Middle Tennessee 11 7   .611 19 12   .613
Tennessee Tech 10 8   .556 15 13   .536
Eastern Illinois 9 9   .500 12 15   .444
Southeast Missouri State 9 9   .500 12 18   .400
UT Martin 8 10   .444 11 16   .407
Tennessee State 7 11   .389 9 18   .333
Morehead State 6 12   .333 8 19   .296
Eastern Kentucky 6 12   .333 8 18   .308
1997 OVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Murray State defeated Austin Peay in the championship game, 88–85 in OT, to win their eighth overall OVC men's basketball tournament.

The Racers received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the Southeast region.

Format

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Eight of the ten conference members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with play beginning in the quarterfinal round. Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin did not participate.

Bracket

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Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 6
Semifinals
Wednesday, March 7
Championship
Thursday, March 8
         
1 Austin Peay 106
8 Morehead State 83
1 Austin Peay 70
4 Tennessee Tech 60
4 Tennessee Tech 83
5 Eastern Illinois 81
1 Austin Peay 85OT
2 Murray State 88
3 Middle Tennessee 89
6 Southeast Missouri State 74
3 Middle Tennessee 48
2 Murray State 74
2 Murray State 76
7 Tennessee State 63

[2]

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1996-97 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2022.