Murray State University Athletics
Victor's 26 Points, 20 Rebounds Leads MSU Past WKU In Double-Overtime
12/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Cuthbert Victor led all scorers with 26 points and pulled down a game-high 20 rebounds as the Murray State men's basketball team took Western Kentucky's best shot and survived with a 100-95 double-overtime road win today at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky., to move to 6-0 on the season.
MSU has won five of the last seven meetings with WKU, including the last two with its long-time regional rival. This is also the 13th time in school history that a Racer team has opened a season with six straight wins and the first since the 1998-99 team opened 9-0.
The 143rd meeting between MSU and WKU will go down as one of the most memorable ever as the Racers, under first-year head coach Mick Cronin, used the amazing play of Victor to fight their way to the 50-minute triumph.
Victor, who entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage at 77%, finished the day 9-of-14 from the field while chipping in with two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in 45 minutes of action. The 20 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, is a career high, while the 26 points is one shy of a career high.
MSU senior guard Rick Jones added 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the three-point line as the Racers had five players finish in double-figures in scoring. Senior guard Chris Shumate and junior guard Adam Chiles had 12 points each, while senior guard Kevin Paschel chipped in with 11 points and five assists. Senior forward Antione Whelchel added eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Antonio Hayes led three Hilltoppers in double-figures with 23 points.
The game was tied seven times and featured six lead changes, with the last coming with 3:03 left in the second overtime as Victor converted on a layup to give the Racers a 94-93 lead.
MSU sprinted out to an early 12-6 lead with 15:06 left in the first half before WKU (0-5) reeled off a 13-1 run over the next four minutes, 26 seconds to take a 19-13 lead with 10:40 to go.
The Racers ran off the next six points to even things up at 19-19 after another Victor layup with 7:59 to go, but the Hilltoppers answered the run by regaining the lead and pushing the margin out to 10 at 32-22 on a Jamaal Brown three-point play with 3:54 left in the first half. MSU cut the lead down and trailed by only five at 40-35 at the half after Paschel took an outlet pass and raced the length of the court for a layup as the first half buzzer sounded.
The Hilltoppers, who entered the game winless after losses to Auburn, Virgina Commonwealth, Mississippi State and Louisville, opened the second half by pushing the lead out to 10 on three different occasions before MSU started to rally trailing 55-45 with 14:20 to go in regulation.
Jones hammered home a three-pointer with 13:51 to go following a steal by Chiles to start a 20-10 Racer run over the next nine minutes of action, capped by a Shumate free throw with 4:40 left to tie things up at 65-65.
The two teams exchanged the lead four times over the next two minutes before the Racers regained the lead at 74-71 after a Shumate three-pointer with 2:10 left. The lead moved from three to five over the next two minutes before WKU's Anthony Winchester knocked down a three with :13 seconds left in regulation to tie things at 80-80. After Chiles sprinted down the floor and missed a runner from the left side, the Hilltoppers' Brown missed on a desperation three from beyond halfcourt at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In each of the two overtime periods, MSU scored first as Victor converted in the lane to give the Racers an 82-80 lead in the first overtime, while a Kelvin Brown tip-in pushed the lead to 84-80 with 3:36 left.
MSU pushed the lead out to five on two occasions before WKU's Mike Wells hammered home a three-pointer with just :05 seconds left to send the game to a second extra period tied at 89-89.
In the second overtime, Chiles hit a three-pointer just :04 seconds into play to give MSU a 92-89 lead. After Western regained the lead at 93-92 with 3:20 left, Victor's basket :17 seconds later gave the Racers the lead for good.
MSU finished 31-of-72 from the field for 43.1-percent, while Western was 34-of-75 for 45.3-percent. The Racers converted on 28-of-45 shots from the free throw line, while the Hilltoppers were 17-of-24 from the charity stripe.
The Racers turned 19 WKU turnovers into 22 points, while MSU turned the ball over just nine times.
Up next, the Racers return home to host Chicago State on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center in MSU's second game in the Pittsburgh Holiday Classic.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"I always try to prepare my guys to be in a war. We didn't focus on Western's record. The team we played today is the team that played against Mississippi State and lost a close game."
"I'm happy with the way the guys competed, especially in the second half. Our guys know that we're a second half team and they kept executing. We got the ball inside to Cuthbert (Victor) when we had to have a basket, and our point guards got the ball to Rick (Jones) and Chris (Shumate) for good looks at three-pointers."
"Kevin (Paschel) was huge for us today. We got hot from the three-point line and Western didn't help off of him, so he went by them right to the basket."
"We learned a lot of lessons today and we still won the game, which is great from a coaching standpoint."
On the play of Victor:
"He's playing way too many minutes, but that's the just the kind of player that he is. He struggled a little bit with his shot, but he made for missing those free throws by doing everything else really well."
