Murray State
Jacksonville State
Chiles' Career-High 21 Points Leads Racers Past Jacksonville State 89-84
1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Junior guard Adam Chiles led five Racers scoring in double-figures with a career-high 21 points as Murray State earned an 89-84 Ohio Valley Conference win over Jacksonville State in front of 5,330 fans tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
Chiles, a native of Louisville, Ky., finished the night 8-of-12 from the field to go with three assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action.
Junior forward Kelvin Brown added 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while senior guard Kevin Paschel had one of his best nights of the season scoring 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a crowd-pleasing dunk just before halftime. The Louisville, Ky. native also dished out a team-high five assists in 20 minutes of action.
Senior forward Antione Whelchel chipped in with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Rick Jones was the final Racer in double-figures with 10 points.
The Racers (13-3, 3-1 OVC) gained early command of the game after earning their first lead of the night at 4-3 following a pair of Whelchel free throws with 17:04 left in the first half. MSU pushed the margin out to as much as seven on five different occasions in the opening 20 minutes before settling for a 43-38 halftime lead.
The Gamecocks (7-8, 1-4) battled back in the second half and regained the lead at 60-59 with 10:17 to go on an Emerson Brown layup.
MSU responded with a 10-0 run over a span of 1 minute, 41 seconds to gain a 69-60 advantage. Whelchel led the way for MSU with six points in the run, including a pair of free throws with 9:54 left to give the Racers the lead for good at 61-60.
The Racers pushed the lead out to as much as 12 at 81-69 with 4:58 to go before JSU was able to close to within two at 86-84 with 1:13 left in the game. MSU knocked down 6-of-8 free throws over the final 2:42 to hold on for the win.
Overall, the Racers were 30-of-55 from the field for 54.5 percent, including an impressive 16-of-26 in the second half for 61.5 percent. JSU was 32-of-66 from the field for 48.5 percent.
MSU outrebounded the Gamecocks 38-31 led by Whelchel and senior forward Cuthbert Victor with 11 caroms each. The Racers also outscored JSU 30-20 on fast break points.
With win, the Racers are tied for second in the OVC standings with Samford and Tennessee State at 3-1, while defending league champion Austin Peay is out in front at 5-0.
Up next, MSU closes out its three-game OVC homestand against Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"We played harder tonight than we did on Thursday (against Samford), and we didn't back down. Jacksonville State played very hard, and they're pretty athletic. I told our guys that the season is made up of three separate seasons, and our first season ended at Louisville. We've got to expect this kind of battle every night out in the conference season."
"We've got to do a better job of guarding people in the half court. Obviously, we've got to improve in our half court defense because defense does wins championships and championships aren't won in December. We've got to do a better job on the defensive end in order for us to win in February and March."
"JSU did a great job of attacking the glass, and they were very quick. They were a tough team to prepare for because they've haven't been pressing much at all until Thursday, when they did a lot of it against Tennessee-Martin. Obviously, we didn't have any film from that game, and it was tough for us to handle at times. They pressed us harder than Louisville did, and we had to battle for this one."
"We were able to out-hustle some teams in the non-conference games, but in the conference, it's not as easy. Everybody plays harder in the conference season, and to win, we've got to do a better job of executing on both ends of the floor while continuing to play extremely hard. They don't give medals for just playing hard or practicing hard. You win championships by making plays and executing."
MSU junior guard Adam Chiles:
"We're not happy at all with the way we're playing right now. We've got to get back to playing the way that we did earlier in the season. Our defense has to improve, and we've got to get better at pressuring the ball."
"The main thing is that team's are going to continue to be more and more prepared to play against us. We've got to get better at handling that and make more plays."
