Murray State University Athletics
Racers Looking To Get Back In Stride, Keep Pace In The OVC Race
1/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With the Ohio Valley Conference season approaching the half-way point, the second-place Murray State Racers host long-time rivals Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State this week in an important homestand as MSU looks to keep pace in the conference championship race.
MSU (15-4, 5-1 OVC) is alone in second in the OVC standings behind only first-place Austin Peay, which is now 8-0 in the conference after a win at Tennessee Tech last night.
The Racers enter tomorrow's game against EKU, which is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, looking to get back in stride after a disappointing performance in an 80-68 non-conference road loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday.
"Obviously, we didn't play very well on Monday night in Corpus Christi," said first-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin. "We were outplayed in basically every way, and it's extremely disappointing. As I said after the game, we've got a lot of soul-searching to do as a team before we can get back to playing at the level we were when we were having a lot of success in November and December."
The Colonels (8-9, 3-3 OVC) enter Thursday's game following a 95-86 double-overtime win at Samford last Saturday. EKU currently sits tied for fourth in the conference race, and Cronin remembers how tough the Colonels made it on MSU in the Racers' 82-71 come-from-behind win in Richmond, Ky., on Jan. 10.
"Eastern really pushed us to the brink in our first meeting up there," Cronin said. "We didn't play well against them the first time around, and we were very, very fortunate to get away with the win. We can't afford to continue to play the way we've played over the last three weeks and expect to beat good teams and stay near the top of the OVC standings."
On Saturday, the Racers host Morehead State (9-8, 4-2 OVC) at 2 p.m. at the RSEC in a regionally televised contest on Fox Sports Net South. Morehead is alone in third-place in the conference standings, and though the Racers ran out to a big lead and cruised to a 22-point win against the Eagles in the first meeting on Jan. 8, Cronin knows that won't be the case in the second go.
"Morehead State's playing really well right now after going down to Alabama and pulling off a sweep against Samford and Jacksonville State," Cronin said. "They have two of the most explosive players you'll find in Ricky Minard and Chez Marks. This weekend will be a big, big test for our team, and we've got to show we can handle the position we're in."
The MSU Sports Network's live broadcast of the games against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State can be heard by Clicking Here.
For ticket information on this weekend's games, call the MSU Ticket Office at (270) 762-4895.
SERIES INFORMATION
-- Murray State vs. Eastern Kentucky
This is the 141st meeting between the two programs with MSU holding a 85-55 lead in the all-time series. The Racers hold a 46-17 edge in games played in Murray, while MSU also won the first meeting this season, an 82-71 victory on Jan. 10 in Richmond, Ky.
-- Murray State vs. Morehead State
This is the 146th meeting between the two programs with Murray State holding a 95-50 lead in the all-time series. The Racers hold a 50-14 advantage in games played in Murray, while Murray also won the first meeting this season, a 97-75 win on Jan. 8 in Morehead, Ky.
