Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Second Half Explosion Vaults Racers To An Impressive 94-70 Win Over EKU
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
After trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Murray State Racers unleashed a second half performance that displayed just how strong they can be en route to a 94-70 Ohio Valley Conference win over Eastern Kentucky in front of 4,578 fans tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
Murray State (16-4, 6-1 OVC) outscored Eastern Kentucky (8-10, 3-4 OVC) 65-28 over the final 20 minutes of play to eliminate the Colonels' 42-29 halftime advantage.
Senior forward Cuthbert Victor led the way for MSU with a brilliant effort scoring a game-high 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. The 6-5 native of the Virgin Islands matched a career-high with six blocked shots and also added four steals and two assists in 34 minutes of action. The double-double performance was his 10th of the season and the 26th of his career.
Overall, five Racers scored in double-figures as senior guard Chris Shumate continued his hot play of late with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while dishing out seven assists and swiping six steals in 34 minutes.
Junior guard Adam Chiles added 14 points, while senior guard Rick Jones was 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 on three-pointers for 12 points. Freshman forward Shawn Witherspoon was the final Racer in double-figures with 10 points.
After the Colonels ran out to their 42-29 advantage after the first 20 minutes, MSU came roaring back with a 16-2 run to open the second half. The Racers regained the lead at 45-44 on a Witherspoon layup with 15:51 left in the game.
EKU answered the run momentarily with a 6-0 run of its own to regain the lead at 50-45 with 14:31 left. A Victor layup with 14:08 to go halted the Colonels' run and started the Racers' decisive push over the final 14 minutes. Overall, MSU outscored Eastern 49-20 over the final 14:08 of the game.
The Racers finished the night 37-of-66 from the field for 56.1 percent, including an amazing 25-of-37 in the second half, good for 67.6 percent. EKU was 25-of-57 from the field for 43.9 percent, and the Colonels were outrebounded by MSU 35-31.
MSU outscored EKU in the paint 48-30, and the Racers turned 23 Colonel turnovers into 28 points. The Racers also outscored Eastern 27-11 on fast break points.
With the win, MSU continues to sit alone in second place in the OVC standings behind only first place Austin Peay. The Racers trail APSU (12-7, 9-0 OVC) by one game in the loss column, and MSU is two games clear of third place Morehead State (9-9, 4-3 OVC) and Samford (9-9, 4-3 OVC).
Up next, MSU hosts Morehead State in another important OVC matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center in a regionally televised contest on Fox Sports Net South.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"At halftime, I felt like we were playing pretty hard because we had did have 18 deflections. I didn't want to get on them too bad because I felt like we were in position to do some good things in the first half. We got some bad bounces and bad breaks at times, and we just didn't hit many shots in the first half. When you don't get those bounces, it can really take the wind out of you. I knew in the back of my mind that we were doing some good things, and in the second half, it really came together for us."
"We finished with a total of 52 deflections, so that tells you we played with a lot more intensity and effort on the defensive end. The deflection total never lies."
"Our guys have to figure out that they can't expect to just show up and put on a show for everybody. We have to come out and do things the hard way and grind out wins. There's no disgrace in winning close games. Austin Peay's been doing it all season long, and they're on top of the conference. You have to find a way to win games, and we're learning that our effort must be there for us to have success."
"The bottom line for us is that we have to play hard to win. We don't have tremendous size, and we only have nine scholarship players who are eligible. You win with defense, rebounding and deflections...hustle plays. It's so much harder to win late in the year because teams have figured out how to be a tough out. Because of our record, we thought we could just rock and roll to easy wins. It's obviously not that easy, and hopefully our guys have figured that out."
"Cuffy (Cuthbert Victor) is an effort guy. He had his best practice of the year yesterday. He's such a nice kid that it's hard to get on him sometimes. He must play with tremendous effort to succeed. He scores so many points on offensive rebounds and getting to the ball that his effort must be there. There's no shame in being that type of player. He has to play with reckless abandon and practice hard every day. If he does that, he's a tough guy to stop."
MSU senior forward Cuthbert Victor:
"We were playing hard in the first half, but it still wasn't at the level it needed to be. Coach (Cronin) wanted us to turn up our defense in the second half, and he told us that if we did that, we'd win and that's what happened."
"Eastern started wearing down in the second half, and we started crashing the glass a lot harder. That was the key for us."
"Coach has really pushed me this week to more and more aggressive. I wanted to do whatever I needed to do to help this team win. I'm tired of losing, and I have to do what it takes to win. Everybody did it this week and it showed tonight."
