Murray State
Campbellsville University
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Racers defeat Campbellsville for 16th straight win in home-opener
11/22/2005 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Trey Pearson made sure the Racers had a good start by hitting a three-pointer and an easy layup after a steal for a 5-0 MSU lead only a minute-and-a-half into the contest.
Keith Jenifer scored the next seven Racer points, and the lead grew to 12-2 with 13:48 before the half, but this was not going to be a walk in the park.
The Tigers kept chipping away. James Stewart's three-pointer cut the Racer lead to 16-15 at the 9-minute mark of the first half.
The Racers ended the half hitting on just four of their last 19 field-goal attempts. Campbellsville completed its comeback and 20-8 run to take a 22-20 lead on a putback by Jason Moore with 3:25 left in the half.
The Racers regained the lead with 1:16 left on a spectacular alley-oop from Jenifer to Issian Redding, who slammed the ball through the hoop for a 24-22 Racer lead.
Redding also hit a putback jumper at the buzzer, and the Racers had the lead at intermission 28-24.
Cronin wasn't surprised his team was sluggish after the emotional day they had at Cincinnati Saturday.
"I think we had a Cincinnati hangover from that big game, which was obviously an emotional letdown for us," Cronin said.
The Racers began the half hitting four of their first five shots, but ended the half hitting only five of 21. Murray State also committed 10 turnovers for the half, while Campbellsville had 11.
Murray State came alive in the second half with a 10-2 run. They scored the first seven points of the half on a jumper by Redding and a three-pointer and drive by Justin Orr to take a 35-24 lead with 17:30 remaining. Moments later, Orr hit his third three-pointer of the game at the 15:35 mark for a 38-26 Racer lead.
The Racers finally began to put some distance between themselves and Campbellsville. A 7-0 run that ended on a fast-break basket by Jenifer gave the Racers a 49-33 lead with 10:44 to play. The MSU lead was 19 after Trey Pearson nailed a three with 9:08 left.
After a slow start at Cincinnati, Trey Pearson looks like he has found his shooting touch. He finished the night with a game-high 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-8 from three-point range.
"You'll be off one game, and some games you'll be on," Pearson said. "Tonight was my night. I just try to keep on playing hard and help the team as best I can."
While the Racers got back on track in the shooting department, their defense stayed consistent throughout the game. The Racers held the Tigers to 39-percent shooting in the first half and 38 percent for the game. The 24 points allowed to Campbellsville in the first half is the best defensive effort for the Racers since holding Arkansas Tech to 21 first-half points on Nov. 23, 2004.
The 51 points allowed to Campbellsville is the 11th time in the Mick Cronin era that a Racer team has given less than 60 points in a game. MSU has won all of them.
The Racers now have a week to prepare for their next outing, a Nov. 30 contest in Nashville against the Tennessee Vols at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
MSU Notes
What a difference a day or two makes. At Cincinnati, Trey Pearson didn't sink his first field goal until 11:15 in the second half. Against Campbellsville, he hit a three-pointer and then scored a layup after a steal in the first minute-and-a-half.
Keith Jenifer struggled from the three-point line last season. He made two of 27 attempts or the season and didn't hit his first three until the 16th game against Tennessee State. But this season, Jenifer hit his only try at Cincinnati and hit his second try of the season against Campbellsville for a 2-for-2 start.
The Racers did a great job on Campbellsville's Zach Ingles in the first half. The former Eastern Kentucky player the Racers knew well has a deadly outside shot and came in averaging 22 points, but the Racers held him to only two field-goal attempts in the first 15 minutes of the game. Ingles did not score until 4:49 left in the half on a three-point shot. He finished with five points on 1-for-9 shooting.
MSU center Pearson Grifith suffered a sprained ankle in the first minute of the game and did not return. Asked about his condition after the game, Cronin said, "Eric (Eric Frederick, MSU's athletic trainer) doesn't think it's too bad. We'll see."
More Mick Cronin remarks on the game:
"Tonight was good for us. It was a tale of two halves. I was not happy with our hustle and lack of discipline on offense in the first half -- we had 10 turnovers in the first half. But I was just as pleased with the way we played in the second half. Our offense shot 59 percent and 60 percent from threes, and we only made three second-half turnovers."
"I thought Keith Jenifer was tremendous tonight. He was all over the floor. He held Zach Ingles to one basket, and that was on a bounce-off rebound. Ingles averaged 22 points a game, and he's a great offensive player. We couldn't guard him last year when he was at Eastern Kentucky, but Keith forced him into committing five turnovers, and he went 1-for-9 from the field. That's important for us because Keith needs to guard the other team's best player. Keith is also starting to loosen up shooting. Great shooters have no conscience, and Keith is beginning not to worry so much about when he misses."
