Murray State
Tennessee-Martin
Racers shoot 58 percent from field in 96-70 rout of Tennessee-Martin
1/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State raced out to 28-9 lead eight minutes into the game and used 57.8-percent shooting and an overwhelming rebound advantage to forge a 96-70 win at Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee-Martin tonight.
The Racers (9-6, 4-1 OVC) almost doubled the Skyhawks' rebounds, grabbing 44 boards to UTM's 23. MSU took a 49-27 halftime lead and pushed out to as much as a 31-point lead twice.
Murray State made 37 of its 64 shots from the field and hit 10 of its 25 three-point shots (40 percent). Tennessee-Martin (4-12, 1-4 OVC) shot 43.9 percent from the field (25-for-57) and committed only nine turnovers.
The Racers were led by Darnell Hopkins, who scored 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Hopkins had 17 points at the half.
Shawn Witherspoon chipped in 20 points off the bench on 8-for-10 shooting from the field, with 18 of those points coming in the second half, when he shot 7-for-8 from the floor.
Charles Johnson scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, while Trey Pearson put in 11 points to go with a game-high four assists, while Reggie Jackson scored 11 on 5-for-6 shooting.
Tennessee-Martin was paced by 24 points and five rebounds from Cleve Woodfork, Justin Smith added 11 points, while Will Lewis had 10.
Murray State returns home to host Tennessee State on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The Racers then return to the road, visiting Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 27.
