After going 13-5 during their in-conference schedule, the Morehead State Eagles won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and entered the field of 64 as a 13 seed. They were pitted against a 25-9 Louisville Cardinals team, led by coach Rick Pitino and senior guard Preston Knowles.

Come game time, the two teams were all knotted up at 33 points apiece after one half. But in the second half, the Eagles got the best of the Cardinals, winning the game by a final of 62-61. The Morehead State defense held Knowles to 9 points and forced 16 Louisville turnovers. Star forward Kenneth Faried was at the center of the victory, posting 12 points and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes.

According to nERD, Louisville (14.83 nERD) was more than 10 points better than Morehead State (4.44) on the year, but they couldn't hold off the upstart mid-major.