Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri
Racers Use Strong Rebounding Effort To Cruise Past SEMO 76-63
2/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior guard Chris Shumate scored a team-high 14 points and dished out seven assists while senior forward Cuthbert Victor pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds as the Murray State Racers rolled past Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri 76-63 tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
Victor led the way on the glass as the Racers (24-5, 13-2 OVC) outrebounded the Indians (11-15, 4-11 OVC) 47-29. With the victory, MSU, the No. 2 seed in next week's OVC Tournament, eliminated SEMO from tournament contention.
The Racers will host a first round tournament game on Tuesday, March 2 at 7 p.m., and MSU is the only school in the conference to host a first round game every year since the OVC Tourney went to its current format in 1997.
Shumate, a 6-6 native of Louisville, was 5-of-10 from the field, including a sizzling 4-of-7 on three-pointers to lead three Racers scoring in double-figures. Freshman forward Shawn Witherspoon added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, four rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 15 minutes of action, while junior forward Kelvin Brown chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
After nine lead changes and four ties in the first 12 minutes, 30 seconds of play, MSU regained the lead for good at 21-20 on a Victor tip-in with 7:25 left in the first half. The Racers outscored SEMO 20-3 over the final 7:25 of play in the first half to go into the halftime break with a commanding 39-23 advantage.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Racers patiently pushed their lead out to as much as 27 at 62-35 on a Witherspoon three-pointer with 11:27 to go. The Indians never got any closer than the final 13-point margin as MSU had nine guys play at least 13 minutes despite not having junior guard Adam Chiles, who continues to recover from a dislocated shoulder he suffered on Feb. 14.
The Racers finished 43.9 percent from the field on 29-of-66 shooting while holding the Indians to just 38.3 percent on 23-of-60 shooting. MSU outscored SEMO 36-26 in the paint while using their rebounding advantage for 20 second chance points.
Up next, MSU closes out the regular-season against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center, and "Senior Night" activities will be held prior to tipoff between the Racers and Panthers.
NOTES:
-- MSU improves to 21-0 this season when scoring more than 70 points and moves to 20-0 when outrebounding its opponent.
-- After tonight's 76-63 win, the Racers increased their lead in the all-time series with SEMO to 38-15, and MSU now holds a 19-6 edge in games played in Murray.
-- With his two swats tonight, Victor now has 153 blocked shots in his career, No. 1 all-time at MSU.
