Murray State
Christian Brothers
Racers sail past Buccaneers 81-37
11/10/2005 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With no one in the paint that had the height or the girth to stop him, Griffith had his way most of the night. He started by hitting his first four shots for eight points, and pulled down four rebounds in the first 5:30 of the game. By the time he made it to the half, Griffith was 6-for-6 from the field for 12 points.
Even though it didn't come against the Division I competition he'll face the rest of the season, the game represented progress for the senior from St. Thomas, Barbados.
"I worked hard all summer in the weight room, and the Canada trip got us ready to play," Pearson said. "Tonight, the guys did a great job of finding me when I was open."
Murray State head coach Mick Cronin echoed the talk of what summer weight-lifting can do.
"If there is a bigger, stronger guy in the Ohio Valley Conference, I don't know who it is," Cronin said. "If he can give us an interior presence like he has in the last two exhibition games, I like our chances."
The Racers defense was excellent in the first half. In the initial 11 minutes, CBU had only five points, shooting only 1-10 from the field including 0-7 from three point range.
The Racers pressed the Buccaneers early and scored several baskets after steals. During one 30-second segment, Racer guard Trey Pearson scored an easy lay-up, and after another steal, Pearson hit a three for a 15-3 MSU lead.
Murray State had a 35-14 advantage at the half, forcing CBU into 14 turnovers and had 10 steals.
The second half was more of the same, as the Racers pushed their lead to 51-26 with 10:47 on a three-pointer from Tyler Holloway, who finished the night with 15 points and five three-pointers.
Darnell Hopkins, who had three 21-point games last season as a junior, was the third Racer in double-figures with 14.
The 81-37 final closes out the Racers' exhibition portion of the schedule. Saturday they defeated Bellarmine 59-53.
Even though Christian Brothers didn't challenge the Racers like Bellarmine did, the game was still useful for head coach Mick Cronin.
"We had a chance to play a lot of people tonight," Cronin said. "I wanted to get certain people some minutes like the freshmen and Rob Kennedy. We did a tremendous job defensively, holding them to 29 percent. Our press is starting to pick up as well as our half-court defense. Overall, we have had a good preseason. Our leadership is better."
But the Racers' next opponent, Cincinnati, will present the Racers' toughest opening game challenge in many years and Cronin is well aware of it.
"We know what we're up against vs. Cincinnati," he said. "We're on the road against a potential top-20 team with four seniors. Their physicality will be a big factor. Our main weakness last year was that we weren't tough, physically or mentally. Traditionally, they are one of the most physical teams on the block, so that will be a challenge for us."
MSU Notes
Issian Redding and Shawn Witherspoon did not play against Christian Brothers. Witherspoon was absent because of the death of his grandmother. Redding was on the bench, but sat out because of a thigh bruise he suffered in practice this week. The injury is not considered serious and he should be back to practice before the weekend is out.
The Racers now have eight days to prepare for the season-opener at Cincinnati Nov. 19.
MSU will be trying for their 12th straight season-opening win. Its last loss in a season-opener was at Arkansas in 1993. The game can be seen live on WQWQ/UPN The Beat at 6 p.m. Central Time.
