Murray State
Texas Christian
Racers Overcome Foul Trouble To Earn A 73-67 Road Win Over TCU
12/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Junior forward Kelvin Brown scored 22 points and the Murray State men's basketball team overcame tons of foul trouble to improve to 5-0 on the season with a 73-67 road win over TCU tonight at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Ft. Worth, Texas.
The win is MSU's second-straight over a Conference USA team after its 94-54 win over Southern Miss last Saturday in Murray. MSU, ranked No. 22 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, is 5-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season, when the Racers opened the year 9-0 before eventually finishing 27-6 and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Brown led three Racers scoring in double-figures after going 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native scored 16 points in the first half while battling foul trouble during the final 20 minutes.
MSU, under the direction of first-year head coach Mick Cronin, lost starting guard Adam Chiles and senior forward Cuthbert Victor early in the first half with two fouls each, while Chiles and Brown had to sit early in the second half with four fouls each. The Racers were able to survive thanks to the superb play of the players off their bench.
Victor earned his third double-double of the year scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds. The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week is 33-of-43 from the field in five games, good for an amazing 77-percent.
Senior guard Rick Jones was the final Racer in double-figures with 12 points after overcoming a slow start. The native of Georgetown, Ky., hit three-straight three-pointers during MSU's decisive run in the second half, much to the delight of the 20-25 Racer fans that made the trip from Murray to the campus of Texas Christian University.
TCU (1-3) held a 38-32 lead at halftime, and after an MSU run tied things up at 40-40 with 13:13 to go, the Horned Frogs answered with a 13-6 run over the next 4 minutes, 10 seconds.
TCU's Femi Ibikunle pushed the margin out to 53-46 with 9:03 to go when MSU answered with an 8-0 run of its own over the next 1:49 to regain the lead at 54-53 after a Victor tip-in with 7:14 left.
The teams exchanged the lead and were tied on two occasions over the next three minutes before the Racers regained the lead for good at 60-59 on a Victor free throw with 4:14 to go in the game.
MSU knocked down its free throws over the final moments to preserve the win in the first-ever meeting with TCU.
Led by Victor's 13 caroms, MSU outrebounded TCU 40-31. The Racers also controlled the paint outscoring the Horned Frogs 42-34 in the lane and 18-7 on second chance points.
The Racers' defense was the key to the game as MSU held TCU to just 3-of-15 shooting from behind the three-point line and outscored them 41-29 in the second half.
Up next, the Racers will take on regional rival Western Kentucky on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. in Bowling Green, Ky.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"I told our guys that you have to go on the road and win the game because it doesn't come easy. Things are a little tighter, and the shots don't fall like they do at home sometimes. To only be down by six at halftime, I felt like we were in pretty good shape considering all of our foul trouble. I have to give our bench players a lot of credit because they did a great job, and our whole team found a way to survive tonight. These kids are a lot of fun to coach right now because they really believe in what we're doing, and they never stop fighting."
"I'm so happy for Rick Jones because he never stopped believing in his shot, even after the bad start. I told him, just like we tell the whole team, to never hesitate with a shot. It will come around and these are 40-minute games. I'm proud of Rick and the whole team for their effort tonight."
"Kevin Paschel was monstrous tonight. He did a great job of taking care of the basketball and had some key assists. He also did a good job of negating (TCU guard) Corey Santee. We held him to just nine points on 3-of-8 shooting and he never seemed to get in a real good rhythm. I can't say enough about how well Kevin played tonight."
"There wasn't a lot of ranting or yelling at halftime. We made some adjustments and told our guys to loosen up out there. We also told them that we've been holding our opponents to an average of just 39-percent shooting in the second half this season, and that if we did that tonight, we'd win. TCU only shot 30-percent in the second half tonight, and that was the key."
"I think our guys really believe in themselves right now, and they have a great understanding of why they're winning. They're beginning to grasp this style of play and they never stop fighting. These guys worked extremely hard in the off-season, and they've paid for what they're earning out on the floor. I can't say enough good things about the team's attitude."
"I'm looking forward to being apart of the rivalry with Western Kentucky. I've been involved with some great rivalries at Cincinnati and Louisville, and I hope to be on the winning end of this rivalry."
"I hope our fans get ready and take our traveling road show up to Bowling Green. We didn't get any respect tonight at TCU. They had the largest crowd in school-history on Monday for the Kansas game, but tonight they had less than 3,500 people. That is simply a lack of respect for us and our program, but we can change that with what we do on the floor. Our program has earned respect in the OVC through the years, and we can do it nationally as well."
