Racer Magic Shines On Hall of Fame & Senior Day

Saturday, February 17

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

22-5 (14-2OVC)

Tennessee Tech

17-12 (9-7OVC)

Tennessee Tech

Murray St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

2/17/2018 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Winning for the ninth-straight time, the Murray State Racers punctuated the home portion of the 2017-18 season with an impressive 75-65 victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Saturday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

On a night when the 2018 MSU Hall of Fame class was honored and great Isaiah Canaan's jersey No. 3 was retired, the Racers sent seniors Terrell Miller, Jr., and Jonathan Stark out winners on Senior Day.

The Racers (22-5) won their final nine regular-season home games to finish 14-2 on their home floor. The win also clinched no worse than a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. With two road games to finish the regular-season next week at Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay, the Racers are 14-2 in OVC play and still tied with Belmont at the top.

After pouring in 32 points Thursday, Stark scored 30 to lead all scorers in the win over TTU. Freshman Ja Morant scored 14, while Miller added 10.

A 12-3 start for the Racers was just what they wanted. It was helped along by a pair of brilliant blocked shots by Morant and each let easy baskets. MSU pushed to its largest lead of the game when Stark hit a 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark when it was 25-9. MSU had another 16-point lead only 1:49 before the intermission, but Tech whittled it down to 28-27 at halftime.

Tech got as close as they would get when they made it a 65-57 game with 5:42 left, before the Racers put the game away.

Even though the Racers committed a season-high 20 turnovers, they forced TTU into 17 and held them to 3-of-16 from the 3-point line for 19 percent. MSU was excellent from the free throw line and hit 79 percent on 19-of-24, as Stark went perfect in nine attempts.

Game Notes
The day marked another emotional Senior Day as Terrell Miller, Jr. (Jacksonville, Florida), and Jonathan Stark (Mumford, Tennessee) were honored before and after the game with their families. This dynamic duo has a lot left to accomplish this season, but their careers are already amazing. After tonight, this All-OVC pair have appeared in 116 games and made their 50^th consecutive start together.

Miller is pushing toward joining the MSU 1000-Point Club and now has 928 points. He is also working on becoming the 31^st Racer to reach 500 rebounds, as he now has 473.

Stark surpassed Cameron Payne (2013-15) for second place on the MSU all-time two-year scoring list. Stark now has 1,307 points. De'Teri Mayes (1996-98) is No. 1 with 1,340 points.

At halftime, after the 10-person Murray State Hall of Fame class was honored on the court, MSU Director of Athletics Allen Ward took the microphone and addressed the fans. In a total surprise to Canaan, Ward announced the retirement of Canaan's uniform No. 3. It was an amazing scene as the 6,495 came to its feet to cheer. It was an amazing moment that was last seen when Marcus Brown's No. 5 was retired in 2010. Canaan is the 10^th player to have their number retired in men's basketball at Murray State. Here is the complete list.

21, Bennie Purcell (1952)
16, Garrett Beshear (1953)
19, Howie Crittenden (1956)
15, Jeff Martin (1989)
30, Paul King (1991)
54, Popeye Jones (1992)
26, Joe Fulks (2001)
20, Johnny Reagan (2003)
5, Marcus Brown (2010)
3, Isaiah Canaan (2018)

With finishing the home season with a nine-game win streak, the Racers are guaranteed to open the 2018-19 with a nice run of wins, at least in regular season play. MSU was 14-2 at the CFSB Center in their 20^th season in the building. MSU's losses came to Middle Tennessee (Nov. 13) and Auburn (Dec. 19). The Racers are 34-10 at home in the Coach Matt McMahon era and 20-5 in OVC games.