Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
West Florida
Victor's Double-Double Leads Racers Past West Florida 94-68
11/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Cuthbert Victor was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field for 19 points while pulling down 11 rebounds to lead the Murray State men's basketball team to a 94-68 win over West Florida tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers' 2-0 start marks the 11th-straight year MSU has opened with wins in its first two games to begin a season.
Junior forward Kelvin Brown led four Racers scoring in double-figures with 20 points, including 12-of-13 from the free throw line, as MSU overcame a slow start to dominate the Argonauts (0-1) over the final 20 minutes.
Senior guard Chris Shumate added 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-6 from behind the three-point line, while fellow senior guard Rick Jones chipped in with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
The Racers held a slim 42-39 lead at the half after senior guard Kevin Paschel knocked down a three-pointer at the first half buzzer.
After UWF cut the MSU lead to 45-41 with 18:22 to go in the game, junior guard Adam Chiles scored on a fast break layup with 17:44 left to spark a 29-7 run for the Racers over the next 7:33 of the game.
In the decisive run, Brown scored 10 points while Victor added seven points as the Racers held UWF to just 2-of-7 shooting from the field and forced four Argonaut turnovers during that stretch.
MSU's largest lead of the night was 31 on two different occasions over the final 2:24 of the game.
The Racers had three players finish the night with at least five assists led by Paschel's six. Chiles and senior forward Antione Whelchel finished with five assists each as MSU finished with 23 assists as a team.
After being outrebounded in the first half, the Racers responded to dominate the glass in the second half to finish with a 41-31 advantage in rebounding.
MSU finished 32-of-62 from the field for 51.6-percent while holding UWF to just 44.4-percent on 24-of-54 shooting, including just 8-of-22 (36.4%) in the second half.
The Racers turned 19 Argonaut turnovers into 26 points and outscored UWF 42-22 in the paint.
Up next, the Racers host SIU-Edwardsville on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"I've got to give West Florida a lot of credit. They were extremely well-prepared for our pressure, and they really got after us. They had a lot of speed on the floor, and they had a lot good ball-handlers. This was a very good experience for us because (OVC opponent) Samford will run the exact same offense and do a lot of the same things we saw tonight."
"West Florida really hurt us with their rebounding in the first half. We were a little flat with our energy, and we just didn't get after it in the first half. Once we turned the tables on the rebounding in the second half, we were able to control the game."
"It's much more mentally tough to come back just two days after a big win like we had on Saturday than it is physically tough. Our guys knew who they were playing, and they just didn't have enough respect for West Florida in the first half. We played much harder in the second half, and it made a huge difference. With that said, I don't want to take anything away from West Florida because they came in here very well-prepared, and they forced us into some mistakes in the first half."
"If we're going to play Division II teams, I want to play against teams with good coaches and we did that tonight. We got exploited in some areas because they did some unconventional things to take away some of our advantages, but it's good for us to see that and learn to deal with it."
"I know we're going to be a second half team, but we don't need to be digging holes for ourselves in the first half. If we had been on the road at a place like Austin Peay tonight, we would've really had a big deficit to overcome. I've been pretty calm with the team before these first two games, but maybe I need to get a little more animated so we'll come out with a little more intensity."
MSU junior forward Kelvin Brown:
"We weren't completely ready to play tonight, and I could see it in warm-ups. After the first half, Coach Cronin got after us a little bit, and we came out and did a much better job in the second half."
"We're pretty strong inside, and we can score around the basket. We know that if we can get the ball inside that we're probably going to score or kick it out for the three."
"West Florida was pretty quick, and they had some pretty good guards. Coach Cronin wasn't happy with our rebounding in the first half. During halftime, we had a little discussion about it. In the second half, we came out ready to play and it showed."
