Murray State
Tennessee Tech
Racers Roll Into OVC Semifinals After 92-75 Win Over Tennessee Tech
3/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior guard Chris Shumate led six Racers scoring in double-figures as No. 2 seeded Murray State rolled to a 92-75 win over No. 7 seeded Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament tonight at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray.
The Racers (26-5) advance to the semifinals to play No. 3 seeded Morehead State (16-12), an 82-68 winner tonight over Jacksonville State, on Friday at 8 p.m. CT at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. The winner of Friday night's semifinals will advance to the championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
Shumate, a native of Louisville, Ky., knocked home 5-of-9 three-pointers for 17 points and dished out four assists as the Racers were an impressive 57.9 percent from the field (33-of-57), including 13-of-23 (56.5%) on three-pointers.
Senior forward Antione Whelchel had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a game-high nine rebounds, while senior forward Cuthbert Victor was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for 13 points and dished out three assists despite being double-teamed throughout the night.
Senior center Andi Hornig had a great night for the Racers, who are now a perfect 8-0 in first round home games since the OVC Tournament went to its current format in 1997. Hornig, a 7-0 native of Idstein, Germany, was 5-of-6 from the field, while junior forward Kelvin Brown also had a 12-point effort to go with seven rebounds. Senior guard Kevin Paschel was the final Racer scoring in double-figures with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 showing from the field to go with a game-high six assists.
MSU never trailed the Golden Eagles (13-15) after opening the game with a 10-0 run over the first 2 minutes, 32 seconds. After the Racers pushed their advantage out to as much as 15 at 28-13 on a Whelchel three-pointer with 9:23 left in the first half, Tech bounced back to eventually cut the lead all the way down to one at 32-31 on a Will Moore three-pointer with 2:58 to go.
The Racers answered the challenge by pushing the lead back out to seven at 43-36 at the halftime break.
After the Golden Eagles opened the second half by cutting the deficit down to four at 46-42 with 19:09 to go in the game, the Racers responded with a 21-5 run to push their advantage out to 20 at 67-47 on a pair of Brown free throws with 12:46 left.
Tech came back to cut the lead under double-digits one final time at 79-70 with 5:48 to go before MSU pushed its lead back out to the final margin of 17.
Despite Tech senior guard Cameron Crisp's game-high 30 points, MSU held the Golden Eagles to just 42.6 percent (26-of-61) shooting from the field. Tech stayed in the game by hitting 16 three-pointers, but the Racers used its advantage inside to make the difference as MSU outrebounded the Golden Eagles 38-24 and outscored them 34-12 in the paint.
MSU finished with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 26 assists and only 13 turnovers. The game also featured the return of the MSU junior guard Adam Chiles, who played 16 minutes in his first game back after recovering from a dislocated shoulder on Feb. 14.
For information on tickets for the semifinals and finals at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, call the MSU ticket office at (270) 762-4895.
NOTES:
-- This marks the 17th straight season that MSU has advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals...the Racers have won nine of the last 16 OVC Tournament titles.
-- MSU improves to 23-0 this season when scoring more than 70 points and moves to 22-0 when outrebounding its opponent.
-- After tonight's 92-75 win, the Racers increased their lead in the all-time series with Tech to 114-42, and MSU now holds a 65-9 edge in games played in Murray.
-- With another blocked shot tonight, Victor now has 156 blocked shots in his career, No. 1 all-time at MSU.
-- With their 92-point effort tonight, the Racers are now 158-8 since 1994 when scoring 80 points or more in a game.
