Racers Dominate Saint Mary's 65-51 In ESPN BracketBusters

Saturday, February 18

CFSB Center

5 p.m.

Murray State

Saint Mary's

Photo by: Tab Brockman

Racers Dominate Saint Mary's 65-51 In ESPN BracketBusters

2/18/2012 7:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box score I Box score (PDF)

The #16 Murray State Racers turned in a great performance in the final home game of the season in a dominant 65-51 win over #21Saint Mary's Saturday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky..

MSU improved to 26-1, while SMC fell to 23-5.

The Racers never trailed and built an early 12-5 lead on a deep three by Isaiah Canaan who finished the game with23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field.

MSU took a 34-25 lead into halftime when Latreze Mushatt and Ed Daniel each hit a pair of free throws.

MSU quickly went ahead by 13 points early in the second half when Daniel and Canaan each scores baskets. Canaan hit back-to-back threes and the Racers led 42-35 with 11:30 remaining.

Canaan hit another three with 6:00 left and MSU led 57-41. The Racers led by 17 at the 3:30 mark when Ivan Aska and Daniel scored on fat breaks.

In a big showdown in the Sears BracketBusters series, the game featured two ranked teams at the CFSB Center for the first time. MSU was 16^th this week in the Associated Press Poll, while the Gaels were 21^st. The game also featured a national TV audience on ESPN with legendary announcers Dave O'Brien and Dick Vitale calling the action.

It marked the first time a ranked Murray State has played another ranked team, and the attendance of 8,825 set a new CFSB Center record.

The Racers complete regular season play next week, traveling to Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech to close out OVC play. Tip-off against TSU in Nashville, Tenn. is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Game Notes
The Racers finish the 2011-12 home season 13-1, after going 13-2 last season. Adding in their 15-0 season from 2009-10, the Racers are 41-3 in the last three seasons at the CFSB Center.

The day also marked the final home games for the Racer senior trio of Ivan Aska, jewuan Long and Donte Poole. The seniors won their 99^th game tonight which ties the best in MSU history for one class.

The game marked the first time the Racers had hosted a ranked team since 1971 when MSU defeated then no. 7 Western Kentucky.

The Racers, who have already clinched the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title, now prepare for the final two games of the regular season next week when they travel to Tennessee State Thursday (Feb. 23) and Saturday (Feb. 25) at Tennessee Tech. The TSU game will be aired by ESPNU and the TTU game on the Racer TV Network.