Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Racers Use A Dominating First Half To Roll To An 85-67 Road Win Over EIU
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State men's basketball team rolled out to a 30-point lead in the first 18 minutes of action and coasted to an impressive 85-67 Ohio Valley Conference road win over Eastern Illinois tonight at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill.
After trailing 5-3 with 18:25 left in the first half, the Racers (18-4, 8-1), alone in second place in the OVC standings and three games clear of third place, used runs of 16-0 and 13-0 to take a 46-16 lead after a Chris Shumate three-pointer with 2:31 to go before halftime.
MSU's largest lead of the first half was 31 at 51-20 with less than a minute left before the Panthers (3-16, 1-8 OVC) cut it to 29 at 51-22 at the half.
Overall, the Racers placed four players in double-figures led by Shumate's 20 points, all in the first half, on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 on three-pointers. In MSU's nine conference games so far in 2003-04, Shumate, a 6-5 senior swingman from Louisville, Ky., is shooting 58.1 percent (50-of-86) from the field and an amazing 50 percent (25-of-50) on three-pointers.
Senior guard Kevin Paschel and freshman forward Shawn Witherspoon scored 14 points each for MSU. Paschel was 5-of-6 from the field, while Witherspoon was 6-of-9 overall. Senior center Andi Hornig had his best all-around night of the season with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, five rebounds and five blocked shots, which matches a career-high for the native of Idstein, Germany.
In the second half, MSU continued its dominant performance during the first 15 minutes of play by pushing the margin out to as much as 36 at 83-47 on a Witherspoon layup with 5:00 left in the game. First-year MSU head coach Mick Cronin emptied his bench over the final 4:00 while EIU cut the final deficit to 18, the closest the Panthers had gotten since the 12:00 mark of the first half.
On the night, MSU was 32-of-54 from the field, good for 59.3 percent, including a scalding 20-of-32 (62.5%) during the first half. The Panthers were held to just 39.4 percent from the field on 28-of-71 shooting, including just 9-of-30 in the first half for 30 percent.
Though the Racers were outrebounded 42-32, MSU still controlled the paint outscoring EIU 44-26 in the lane. Senior forward Cuthbert Victor, the nation's fourth-leading rebounder entering the night at 11.0 caroms per contest, finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots in 28 minutes of action.
Overall, the Racers dished out 23 assists led by junior guard Adam Chiles' seven dimes, and MSU turned the ball over only 14 times. According to Cronin, the Racers also finished the evening with a record 63 deflections on defense, including 43 during the dominant first half performance.
Up next, MSU takes on OVC rival Southeast Missouri (10-10, 3-6 OVC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in a regionally televised contest on Fox Sports Net South.
POST-GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Mick Cronin:
"It was a tremendous effort for our guys. We've talked about commitment to defense and creating steals and deflections. Our defensive execution and effort was what led to that devastating first half. To be able to hold them to just 9-of-30 from the field in the first half, and more importantly creating a record 43 deflections in the first half is just remarkable. Our goal for each game is 40 deflections, so that number alone tells you we had a tremendous commitment from our guys on the defensive end. If we can keep that up, it's going to be tough to beat us. Anytime we can get our deflections up to 60, it's a great effort and we broke another record with 63 for the game."
"I'm so happy to see our guys play with such commitment to our style. That's what I'm most interested in. I've been trying to blend our style of play and the all-out commitment to defense that's required to do it right with a new team. The guys showed that they're making strides toward that goal lately, I hope we can continue this move in the right direction through the rest of the season. Our effort was tremendous tonight, and it was by far our best showing of the season in terms of our focus and effort on defense as a team."
"We're playing really unselfish basketball right now. We've dealt with some off-the-court adversity lately, but our seniors continue to lead by example with their effort. We're coming together as a team, and that's a compliment to our leadership. I've been really happy with the way that our guys handled everything, on and off the court, because it could've been a distraction, but it hasn't been. I'm proud of them for that."
"We're approaching every game the same and the game with Southeast Missouri on Saturday will be no different. We're going to be prepared for a tough environment, and we're going to have to play with the proper intensity and execution on defense just like every night, especially on the road. I saw SEMO play earlier in the year on film, and I was very impressed. They've got some talent inside and around the basket, and they will certainly test us in there."
