Murray State
Rice
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Racers enjoy Rice at home
12/30/2005 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MSU won the rebound battle 49-35 and were very active at the outset scoring their first three baskets from offensive rebounds.
Trey Pearson's put back made it 2-0, followed by another by Darnell Hopkins for a 4-2 lead. Shawn Witherspoon's offensive rebound and dish to Justin Orr kept the Racers ahead 6-2.
After struggling to score against SIU Wednesday, the Racers had as many points in the first three minutes than they did in the first 10 minutes against the Salukis.
Mick Cronin also made a coaching move that he's never made before. Keith Jenifer wasn't in the starting lineup for the first time in his MSU career after 38 straight starts.
“With tonight's approach, I was concerned about Lorenzo Williams. I wanted to play Trey Pearson and Keith solely at the one so we could keep a fresh body on him, and I also wanted the ball pushed on every possession,” Cronin said. “I also wanted to try to get someone at the two spot with more of a scorer's mentality, so we got Darnell Hopkins and Tyler Holloway some minutes there.”
At the 13:30 mark of the half, Racer fans had the chance to see Freshman Mick McCoy on the home floor for the first time. Moments after entering the game, he scored his first collegiate points to put the Racers on top 17-11.
With less than two minutes in the half, Justin Orr and Tyler Holloway drained three pointers and the Racers enjoyed a 45-23 lead at the half. It was the fifth time in 10 games that the Racers have held an opponent under 30 points in the first half. MSU still hasn't allowed a 40-point half this season.
Rice did not go away in the second half and made an impressive push.
They cut the Racers lead to 12 with 10:45 left on two free throws by Patrick Britton. The Owls had a chance to cut it to nine, but J.R. Harrison missed a three pointer with 10:31 to play. Chuck Johnson's tip in on the next Racer possession put the Racers ahead by 14 60-46 with 10:00 left.
Rice cut the MSU lead to 12 again on two free throws by Harrison with 8:23 left to make it 62-50, and trimmed the lead to 10 on a running lay up by Morris Almond, after Pearson Griffith missed two free throws with 8:02 left.
The Racers responded with a 7-0 run which included a jumper by Darnell Hopkins, a three pointer by Pearson and a nifty lay up on a fast break by Issian Redding. The Racers lead was back to 17 at 69-52 with 6:54 left and they brought home the win from there to move to 4-1 at home.
Shawn Witherspoon ended the game with a career high 15 rebounds to along with 15 points, Trey Pearson was perfect from the field (5-5) including 3-for-3 from three point range for 14 points.
Hopkins added 11 on 5-of-9 shooting.
Cronin praised Witherspoon, “Shawn Witherspoon's effort tonight shows that he's an all-league player.” Cronin added, “15 points and 15 rebounds and taking the ball to the basket and tremendous offensive rebounding is impressive.”
More than any thing, the Racers showed that they can be a very effective offensive unit and have not had any let down this season defensively. But Cronin wants them to be more consistent.
“The team that played in the first half can win the OVC and go to the NCAA Tournament,” Cronin said. “The team that played in the second half was the same team that played against SIU and will not go to the NCAA Tournament.”
MSU Notes:
With the win, The Racers avoid back to back home losses. The last time that happened was last season on Feb. 5 to Southeast Missouri and Feb. 22 to Tennessee Tech.
Much has been made about the Racers inability of getting to the free throw line this season. It was a rare site when Trey Pearson and Keith Jenifer both made it to the line in the first half. It was just the third game out of 10 this season that Pearson had been to the line. Jenifer went to the line for just the fifth time in 10 games. The Racers made it to the line more, but didn't make many. They were 4-15.
With 11:55 left in the game Shawn Witherspoon had 12 rebounds which tied his career high that he posted in the season opener at Cincinnati. Rob Kennedy also had matched the previous season best with 12 against Morehead State Dec. 21. Witherspoon finished with a new career high of 15. He's the first to get 15 rebounds in a game for MSU since Cuthbert Victor did it Feb. 26, 2004 against Southeast Missouri.
The Rice game was a result of the two being paired last February in the ESPN Bracket Buster, which the Racers won in Houston, TX 69-63. Rice was required to return the game to Murray.
The Racers have played the most of their non-conference schedule, except for the February ESPN Bracket Buster game. The Racers learn of their assignment in early January.
MSU has played two games of their six-game home stand. Thursday they host Tennessee State at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday Jan. 7 they host Southeast Missouri State, a team that beat the Racers twice at home last season.
