Championship: 1990-91 Racers 87, 1982-83 Racers 52

(Clockwise from top) Popeye Jones, Greg Coble, Paul King and Frank Allen led the 1990-91 Racers to the tournament championship.

Popeye Jones scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as the 1990-91 Racers drubbed the 1982-83 Racers 87-52 in the all-time Racer tournament championship game.

Jackson

John Jackson and Greg Coble added 16 points each with Jackson claiming a game-high 20 rebounds, as the 1990-91 team dominated the boards 57-22.

The 1990-91 team scored the game's first five points and led the entire game. The 1982-83 team closed to 9-7 on Lamont Sleets' fastbreak basket off a rebound and feed from Ricky Hood with 17:09 left in the first half, but Jackson scored three straight stickbacks during a 12-4 run as the 1990-91 Racers took a 21-11 lead on a Jones free throw with 12:57 left in the half. The 1990-91 team maintained a double-digit lead most of the rest of the half and led 46-30 at the break.

Jones started the second half with eight straight points as the 1990-91 team built a 54-30 before Glen Green's jumper put the 1982-83 on the board with 16:59 left. But the 1982-83 team could never cut the lead inside 20 points and fell behind by as much as 83-48 on Doug Gold's three with 2:19 remaining. Jackson, who hit 8 of 10 shots from the field, closed the game with a dunk to equal his team's biggest lead.

The 1990-91 team hit 50 percent (36-for-72) from the field and held the 1982-83 team to under 35 percent (22-for-63). Paul King added 12 points and helped hold Sleets to 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Green led the 1982-83 team with 12 points.

Jones, who averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds in three games, earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors as his team won its games by an average margin of 22 points. Does this mean the 1990-91 Racers are the greatest Murray State team of all-time, or at least since 1982-83? That's still and always will be up for debate, but in THIS tournament, Popeye Jones and Co. reigned supreme.