Murray State University Athletics
Top two teams in pre-season poll set to square off in Murray Saturday
1/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers and the Tennessee State Tigers -- who were chosen as the first- and second-place finishers in the Ohio Valley Conference pre-season polls -- will take battle Saturday night at 7:15 at the Regional Special Events Center.
In the OVC standings, Samford and Tennessee Tech are tied for first place at 5-0. Right behind them are the Racers and Tigers, both with a 4-1 record. The Tigers lead the conference in scoring offense, putting up 85.8 points per game, while the Racers rank second, scoring 76.6 points a game.
The Racers (9-6, 4-1 OVC) are coming off of a 96-70 win at Tennessee-Martin last Tuesday. Junior guard Darnell Hopkins led MSU with 21 points and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Shawn Witherspoon, the OVC leader in field-goal percentage at.750, shot 8-for-10 from the field and added 20 points and five rebounds. Junior center Charles Johnson added 12 points, while junior center Reggie Jackson scored 11 points and got four rebounds in just seven minutes. Sophomore guard Trey Pearson added 11 points to round out the Racers' double-figure scorers. Junior forward Issian Redding came off the bench to grab six rebounds, and junior guard Keith Jenifer dished out six assists.
Pearson leads the Racers in scoring with 14.1 points per game, followed by Hopkins and Witherspoon, who average 12.3 and 10.9 points per game, respectively. Witherspoon leads the team in rebounding with 5.2 a game, but Redding is close behind at 5.1 rebounds a game. Jenifer leads the team in assists, handing out 3.9 a game, while Pearson dishes out 3.8 a game.
Tennessee State (9-10, 4-1 OVC) is coming off of a 92-76 win at Tennessee-Martin on Thursday. The Tigers placed five players in double figures, led by Eric King, who cae off the bench to score 16 points and grab a team-high nine rebounds in only 19 minutes. Roshaun Bowens, Rod Flowers and Reiley Ervin each had 14 points. Ervin, the current OVC Freshman of the Week, also added five assists and four steals. Kareem Grant also added 12 points.
The Tigers are led by pre-season All-OVC First-Teamer Bruce Price, who averages 15.0 points and 3.2 assists a game. Next in scoring is Flowers, who has been named OVC Newcomer of the Week in four of the eight times it has been announced. Flowers, a transfer from Cincinnati, is averaging 14.9 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds a game. Next in scoring is Grant, who averages 9.9 points per game, followed by Wayne Arnold (9.7 points per game). Bowens, a pre-season All-OVC Second Team selection, averages 9.5 points, and King averages 9.2 and 6.4 rebounds a game. In two meetings last year, Price averaged 14.5 points and Bowens averaged 17.0 points against the Racers.
"What we can't do is snowball and spiral," said MSU head coach Mick Cronin during his weekly press conference. "Obviously, the home games are huge. I think, if you look at our conference, 12-4 might be good enough (to win the conference). If you look at the parity, if you win eight at home ang get four on the road, that'll get you there. So, you've got to look at every game as an opportunity to get a win."
Murray State leads the all-time series 33-11, holding a 19-4 advantage in games played in Murray. Last season, MSU swept the season series, with the Racers winning the last game 88-72 on Feb. 19 in Murray.
