Murray State University Athletics
Racers Earn National Attention With Perfect 5-0 Start
12/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State men's basketball team is off to its best start in five years, and the Racers, along with first-year head coach Mick Cronin, are getting lots of national attention as well.
MSU, 5-0 after a pair of wins over Conference USA opponents TCU (73-67) and Southern Miss (94-54), have moved up to No. 5 in the latest ESPN.com Mid-Major Top 10 released late Wednesday night.
Cronin and the Racers, ranked 22nd in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, are currently featured in an ESPN.com article by Pat Forde of the Louisville Courier-Journal. In the article, Forde praises the Racers for their undefeated start under Cronin and the way the team has adjusted to the new up-tempo, full-court pressing style of play.
Cronin, who served as the top recruiter for Rick Pitino at Louisville and Bob Huggins at Cincinnati before taking head coaching job at MSU, is also a contributing coach to an article in Sports Illustrated's College Basketball Preview titled, "The Postmodern Postman."
The national attention that the team has received early on is well-received by Cronin, but he knows it's still early.
"We've only played five games in a long, long season, but I've been pleased with how we've played so far," said Cronin, whose Racers take on regional rival Western Kentucky on the road on Sunday in Bowling Green, Ky. "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."
The Racers' 5-0 start is the best for an MSU team since the 1998-99 season and is the 15th time in school history that a Racer team has opened with a perfect record through five games.
Thanks to the Racers fast start, the MSU fans are having fun, the players are having fun, and so is Cronin.
“Our kids are so much fun to coach,” he said. “They just keep fighting and they believe in themselves. And they understand why we're winning.
“We aren't overwhelming anybody with NBA type talent. We're winning because we play hard and do the little things right.”
One of those little things is unselfish play. And that's been a hallmark of this team so far, with the players encouraging each other and making the extra pass.
“Our guys have a tremendous attitude,” Cronin said. “They don't care who scores. We're averaging 21 assists a game right now. We're playing the game the way it's supposed to be played.”
Of course coaches are never satisfied and Cronin says his team will have to improve to reach their potential, particularly on defense.
“We've still got a ways to go,” he said. “We've got to get our team defense tightened up. We can't miss assignments and give up easy baskets, and we have to give a maximum effort so that we can hide our weaknesses.”
With the road trip to archrival Western Kentucky looming on Sunday, the sooner those improvements are made, the better. It's certain that the Hilltoppers will be eager to avenge last year's defeat at the Regional Special Events Center.
“It's a very big game,” Cronin said. “In any rivalry game you have to control your emotions and channel your energy, so that'll be important for us. And then Todor Pandov and Nigel Dixon are much bigger than Kelvin Brown and Cuthbert Victor, so we'll have to combat their size with our hustle.
Cronin also makes a point of emphasizing fan support and is hopeful that as many Racer fans as possible make the trip to Bowling Green.
“I'm not sure how many tickets will be available,” he said. “But our fans have to realize the effect they have on our players. When they see that Racer support, it gives them an added boost.”
After the road clash with WKU on Sunday, MSU will have a few days off before hosting Chicago State on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. CT at the Regional Special Events in the Racers second game in the Pittsburgh Holiday Classic.
