Murray State University Athletics
Racers Ready For The Battle Of Unbeaten Teams As SIU Comes To Town
12/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
There are 48 games on Wednesday night featuring Division I basketball teams, but only one features two of the nation's 18 remaining undefeated teams...Southern Illinois at Murray State.
In what could be considered the biggest game in the nation on Wednesday, the Racers put their perfect 7-0 mark on the line against the Salukis and their 6-0 record at 7:15 p.m. CT at the Regional Special Events Center in the 27th meeting between the two schools. Appropriately enough, the series is tied at 13-13.
The Racers enter the game following a 100-80 win over Chicago State last Saturday in Murray, while SIU is coming off a 79-73 road victory over Wright State on Monday night.
The early-season search for some national attention sits squarely in the balance on Wednesday night. Both teams have been receiving votes in the national rankings over the last two weeks, and both are ranked in the Top 10 in the ESPN Mid-Major poll.
"Opportunity knocks for us to get a chance to play some Top 40 teams in the RPI," said first-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin at yesterday's weekly press conference. "We're probably only going to get to play three of those teams this year, and to put yourself in a position for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, you have to beat those kinds of teams.
"If you want to jump up in the RPI, you've got to beat the teams with the RPI points. Wednesday (against SIU) is a chance for us to get one of those teams at home, which gives you, theoretically, a better chance to win."
MSU is currently eighth in the nation in scoring margin, having won its seven games by an average of 20.9 points per game, including a 94-54 blowout of Conference USA's Southern Miss on Nov. 29 in Murray.
The Racers have fashioned their perfect start behind the up-tempo, full-court pressing style of play implemented by Cronin from his days as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville. Against SIU, Cronin hopes to utilize that style of play to earn some easy baskets because he expects scoring to be at a premium in the half-court.
"They (SIU) play tremendous defense. They really hunker down and play tremendous man-to-man defense," Cronin said. "They pick up the ball full-court with their point guard, and they disrupt you offensively. They have great ball-pressure, and they have unbelievable help-side defense. We're going to have to get some transition baskets against them because they're just so good in the half-court defense."
Leading the way for the Racers' attack is senior forward Cuthbert Victor with his 19.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting a scorching 75.3-percent (55-of-73) from the field, which places him third nationally, while his 11.3 rebounds per outing places him tied for fifth in the nation. He's also averaging over two blocks per game, two assists per game and has only four turnovers in seven games.
"In the last few games, Cuffy (Cuthbert Victor) has stepped up and played like an All-American," Cronin said. "Cuffy's performance (against Chicago State) has to be one of the better performances I've ever seen, at any level of college play. He proved that you can actually stop a guy, block his shot, get the rebound, outlet it and go finish the play on the other end. I tell you, I'm really enjoying the chance to get to coach him for one year."
Against Chicago State, Victor poured in a career-high 35 points on 13-of-16 shooting from the field, pulled down eight rebounds, blocked five shots and had three steals in 29 minutes of action.
But for the Racers, the 7-0 start is much more than just Victor. It's a combination of talent and effort that has Cronin very pleased so far.
"I couldn't be more pleased with our guys' effort to this point," said Cronin. "I think we have a tough team to defend. At TCU, Kelvin Brown carried us in the first half. Somewhere along the lines, a scouting report got out on us that you have to stop him.
"If you listen to (Western Kentucky head coach) Darrin Horn's comments after the Western game, he said that they stopped Kelvin Brown. Well, you can't just stop him on our team. We've got four guys scoring in double-figures and two other guys closing in on it."
The showdown with SIU, ranked 14th in the RPI entering the week according to Collegerpi.com, should be a test to see which team can dictate the tempo and style of play. For Cronin, he believes his team must be able to push the tempo to have success.
"I'm really concerned with implementing our style of play," Cronin said. "We can't get into a grind-it-out, half-court affair against them. That's how they practice, and that's how they're efficient. We've got to get this game going up and down the floor. We've got to create some turnovers and get some easy baskets."
For ticket information on the MSU-SIU game, call (270) 762-4895. The MSU Sports Network broadcast of the game can be heard here at GoRacers.com by Clicking Here.
