Murray State
Austin Peay
Racers use 21-3 second-half run to push past Austin Peay 82-73
2/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers, down 38-24 at halftime, used a 21-3 run to begin the second half, shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from the field in the second half en route to an 82-73 victory over Austin Peay State this afternoon before a national audience on ESPN2. Sophomore guard Trey Pearson led the Racers in scoring, tallying 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-12 from three-point range, and also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out a team-high five assists.
It was a tale of two halves for the Racers (13-9, 8-4 OVC), as Austin Peay shot 65.0 percent as opposed to Murray State's 33.3 percent in the first half. But in the second half, the Racers used their trademark defense to hold Austin Peay to 35-percent shooting, forcing 14 second-half turnovers.
"Coach (Mick Cronin) said don't worry about missed shots and keep playing good defense," Pearson said of Cronin's halftime speech to his team. "He said if we do all the little things, all the big things would come together."
Freshman Justin Orr had a career-high 12 points to go along with three assists, and Shawn Witherspoon came off the bench for the second consecutive game to score 12 points, dish out four assists and gather three steals in only 18 minutes. Issian Redding, making his seventh start of the season, scored 10 points for the Racers. Keith Jenifer and Pearson Griffith, both playing limited minutes because of foul trouble, led the Racers in rebounds, pulling down six apiece. Griffith also blocked a game-high three shots in just eight minutes.
For the Governors (9-15, 7-5 OVC), Maurice Hampton scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. Anthony Davis had 14 points and a game-high six assists, and Todd Babington and William Durden rounded out the double-figure scorers for Austin Peay with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Zac Schlader added seven points, five rebounds and four assists for the Governors.
A lay-up by Durden with 13:13 in the first half gave the Governors a 9-8 lead, a lead they would not give up until 13:26 left in the second half. A free throw by Orr with 14:56 left in the game began a torrid 15-0 run in 2:06 for the Racers. After several turnovers caused by the Racer full-court press and a Darnell Hopkins three-pointer that cut the Austin Peay lead to 41-40, Austin Peay called a timeout to regroup.
A defensive stop out of the timeout led to a three-pointer by Witherspoon with 13:26 left, giving the Racers the lead at 43-41. The Governors tied the game at 47-47 on a Babington free throw with 11:56 left, and took the lead at 49-48 on another Babington free throw with 11:15 left. But one of Pearson's four second-half three-pointers gave the Racers the lead on the next possession, 51-49, with 11 minutes left. The Racers never trailed after that point, leading by as many as 12.
When asked if Cronin's 110-minute closed-door team meeting after Thursday night's loss to Tennessee Tech served any motivation, Pearson said it helped the team focus for the game.
"Coach said we had to grow up and stick together and show the fans and our opponents that we want to win," Pearson said. "We ride together and we die together. We have a lot of juniors on this team that want to win right now."
Orr said that the second-half pressure can be attributed to the fans, who were excessively loud during the Racers' second-half run.
"The crowd definitely kept us into the game and kept the intensity and pressure on Austin Peay," Orr said. "The momentum we got from the crowd led to our press, and we turned them over, then kept the heat on them."
The Racers' next game is on Tuesday against Tennessee-Martin at home. This game will conclude the regular-season home schedule, and tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
