The Eastern men’s basketball team has battled all season to earn a berth in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, and the quest for an NCAA automatic bid starts now.

The Panthers will begin their journey for an OVC championship with a first round game against Murray State Wednesday night.

This is the fourth consecutive season the Panthers have clinched a berth in the OVC tournament.

Eastern finished the season at 9-7 in conference play, en route to being marked as the No. 7 seed in the tournament.

The Panthers have a tough task ahead of them as they play conference rival Murray State in their first game.

Murray State is the No. 6 seed in the tournament, but the team still finished at a remarkable 10-6 in a stacked conference.

“For Murray State, they’re a good fast-break team,” senior Trae Anderson said. “So we have to do a good job of running back on defense and stopping key players.”

Although these games mean more, as a loss will end the Panther’s season, the team will approach the game the same way they always do.

“The mentality this game is the same mentality we have any other game,” Anderson said. “Try to outwork our opponents and get our stops. We have to believe we’re supposed to be here and nobody can get in the way of our goal.”

The Racers finished the regular season tied with Tennessee-Martin, who was crowned champion of the OVC West after beating Murray State out in a tie-breaker.

The tiebreaker caused the Racers to fall from the second seed to the sixth seed.

But none of that matters for the Panthers, as their only focus is to survive and advance.

Eastern has looked like one of the best teams in the OVC at certain points throughout the season, but some bumps in the road have caused the Panthers to just be average so far.

“What makes this team special going into the conference tournament is our confidence, and chemistry we have together,” Anderson said. “We also have a lot of threats offensively.”

While the Panthers did finish just two games over .500 in conference play, they did earn some highlight victories over the season.

One of their biggest wins came in the final game of the regular season, as Eastern took down Murray State at home.

That win resulted in a season series split against the Racers, and making the first round matchup one for all the bragging rights.

With both teams earning the victory on their home court, the neutral site tournament game brings plenty of intrigue.

A large part of Eastern’s success this season has come from its leading scorer, Anderson.

Anderson has just been named to the All-OVC First Team after averaging 15 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Anderson’s scoring ability is something that will be important in Eastern’s attempt to knock off Murray State in the tournament.

The Panthers’ other big victories this season have come against some of the top seeds in the conference.

Eastern knocked off Tennessee-Martin right before the Skyhawks went on an eight-game winning streak to win the OVC est.

Now Tennessee-Martin awaits its opponent in the semi-final, because of the double-bye that was earned with the second overall seed in the tournament.

The Panthers also took down Morehead State earlier this season, as the Eagles are now the third seed in the conference.

Another rematch may be in store for the Panthers, as they can take on Morehead State once again with a win over Murray State.

The Panthers have appeared in the OVC tournament 14 times, with a 6-12 record overall in those years.

Eastern is 0-4 all-time as the seventh seed in the tournament, and is 1-4 when playing Murray State in tournament games.

Eastern will be marked as an underdog in this tournament, but it will not matter come tip-off time Wednesday night.

“We like being the underdogs,” Anderson said. “(It) gives us more motivation for us to win.”

Eastern and Murray State will get underway at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Nashville.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].