Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State
Jenifer's 8-for-8 night from the line helps Racers down TSU 82-74
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Junior guard Keith Jenifer scored a co-game-high 17 points and dished out seven assists tonight as the Murray State Racers (10-6, 5-1 OVC) defeated Tennessee State 82-74 in a battle between the top two teams in this season's Ohio Valley Conference pre-season poll.
Jenifer, from Baltimore, Md., went 4-of-8 from the field, but his best shooting came from the free-throw line, where he went 8-of-8. Jenifer's previous season-high in points was 12, during the first game of the season against SIU-Edwardsville on Nov. 20.
“Keith Jenifer had a great game,” Racer head coach Mick Cronin said. “Seven assists, one turnover, 17 points and three rebounds. He does a great job leading our team. If you're going to compete for a league championship, you have to have someone like Keith playing at an all-league level. When he makes shots like he did tonight, he takes this team to another level.”
“We allowed Keith Jenifer to get them going,” Tennessee State head coach Cy Alexander said. “He found his rhythm tonight, and him making perimeter shots adds a new dimension to their offense. Give Jenifer credit; he rose to the occasion tonight.”
Sophomore Trey Pearson also added 17 points for the Racers, converting on four of his eight from three-point range. Juniors Charles Johnson and Darnell Hopkins chipped in 12 points apiece, and Johnson fell just short of a double-double, pulling down a co-game-high nine rebounds.
For the Tigers (9-11, 4-2 OVC), junior Kareem Grant scored a team-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Sophomore guard Bruce Price added 14 points and four assists, while junior Eric King came off the bench to score 12 points and grab a co-game-high nine rebounds.
The Racers led by as much as 10 in the first half, when Pearson drove the lane and hit a lay-up with 30 seconds left to push the margin to 44-34, which was the last basket of the half. A three-pointer by Hopkins at 11:04 in the second half pushed the Racer lead to its biggest of the night at 14, 60-46. After the Hopkins basket, a 9-0 Tennessee State run cut the lead to 60-55 on a jumper by senior Rod Flowers. The Racers responded with a jumper by Johnson at the 5:44 mark, and the Racers never let Tennessee State back into the game.
“This was a big win for us to beat a team with that much talent on offense,” Cronin said. “We're happy to ?hold' them to 74 points when they average 88 a game.”
“We knew this game was going to be a shootout,” Jenifer said. “They had played some tough teams and had a lot of Division I transfers. They can all shoot, and they're an athletic team just like us.”
Murray State returns to action on Jan. 27, when it will begin a two-game road trip to Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State.
