Murray State University Athletics
Murray State Ready To Meet Southern Illinois Sunday
11/18/2006 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State
at
Southern Illinois University
Sunday Nov. 19, 2:05 p.m.
SIU Arena
Carbondale, Ill.
Murray State Racers scored their first win of the 2006-07 season and the first for new head coach Billy Kennedy Thursday in a 73-72 victory over Belhaven in the home opener. The Racers were down by 11 points with eight minutes left, but managed a strong comeback to push their winning streak in home season openers to 17 straight. The win also pushed MSU's home win streak to 12 straight. Bruce Carter took advantage of his first start in a MSU uniform and scored 20 points on 8-15 shooting including 3-6 from three point range. Ed Horton added 13 including the game winning free throws with 6.9 seconds left. Tyler Holloway was 2-4 from three point range and 10 points. Shawn Witherspoon scored eight points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. The win was the Racers 99th in the Regional Special Events Center as they started their ninth season in the building.
The SIU Salukis opened their 2006-07 on Nov. 10 with a 59-28 win over Washington (Mo.). Matt Shaw led the Salukis with 12 rebounds and Tony Young tossed in 21 points as SIU set a school record for fewest points allowed in the modern era (since 1950). The Salukis played without last year's leading scorer, Jamaal Tatum, who was serving a suspension. Tatum will return to the lineup against Murray State. SIU was ranked 28th in the latest AP rankings and fourth in the Mid Major Top-25.The Racers and Salukis have an interesting history that began with a MSU win in 1929. The two played a sporadic series until 1950 when they went 31 years without a meeting. In 1981 MSU defeated SIU at Racer Arena 71-65. In 1989 SIU beat the Racers in Murray in triple overtime 114-108 which at the time was only the third home opener that Racers had lost since 1948. In fact, the Racers haven't lost a home opener since after keeping the streak alive at 17 straight with that narrow win over Belhaven Thursday night. In the last eight meetings from 1990 to now, the Salukis have controlled the series winning six times. The Racers have especially found the going tough at the SIU Arena where they haven't won since 1990.
TV TIME:
The MSU-SIU game will be televised in some cable areas. Mediacom will carry the game throughout all of its counties in southern Illinois and also in the Kentucky counties of Marshall, Calloway, Trigg, Christian, Todd and Hopkins. New Wave customers in Kentucky and Illinois will also be able to see the game as well.HISTORY LESSON: The Racers are looking for their first win at the SIU Arena since winning there in 1990 by the score of 83-77. The Racers jumped out to a 20-10 lead on a Popeye Jones basket with 10:35 left in the first half. SIU stayed in the game down 36-33 at the half on the strength of 11 points from Sterling Mahan (He finished with 23). SIU took a 47-46 lead in the second half on a jumper from Tyrone Bell with 14:06 to play and the Salukis still had a five point lead with 6:06 left. The Racers were down by four with 1:30 left when Greg Coble scored to make it 77-75 and after an SIU miss Frank Allen drilled a three pointer with 29 seconds left for a one point lead. Allen, Popeye and Coble made 5-6 free throws to seal the Racers win. Popeye finished with 26, Coble 25 and Allen added 15. Current SIU head coach Chris Lowery played 11 minutes in the game. MSU Legend Steve Newton was in what would be his final season coaching the Racers (He left for South Carolina after the season) and was on his way to leading MSU to its 11th OVC championship with a 10-2 mark and an overall mark of 24-9. The Racers made it to the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Alabama 89-79.
Here are all the games in the MSU-SIU Series:
1929 Murray Lost 46-37
1929 Carbondale Lost 28-26
1931 Carbondale Won 25-22
1931 Murray Won 35-31
1932 Carbondale Lost 38-34
1932 Murray Won 51-27
1943 Metropolis Won 52-34
1944 Murray Won 50-36
1945 Mettropolis Won 51-38
1946 Murray Won 45-37
1947 Paducah Lost 71-58
1950 Metropolis Won 76-61
1981 Carbondale Won 71-65
1982 Murray Won 63-41
1984 Carbondale Won 66-60
1985 Murray Won 79-65
1986 Carbondale Lost 97-87
1987 Murray Lost 77-70
1989 Carbondale Lost 79-71
1989 Murray Lost 3OT 114-108
1990 Carbondale Won 83-77
1991 Murray Lost 109-98
1998 Murray Won 65-62
2000 Carbondale Lost 94-79
2001 Murray Lost 67-63
2002 Carbondale Lost 85-56
2003 Murray Won 68-64
2004 Carbondale Lost 80-71
2005 Murray Lost 57-53
HALF LEAD: The Racers 42-40 lead at the half against Belhaven was the first time in four games in which they enjoyed a lead after the first 20 minutes.
GREAT START: Bruce Carter's 19 points against San Diego State puts him second on the list of best scorers of players in their first game at Murray State since 1984. Only Antoine Whelchel's 27 against Gardner-Webb in 2000 is better.
SPOON WATCH: Shawn Witherspoon got a little closer to becoming the 33rd student-athlete to join the Murray State 1000-Point Club when he scored eight points against Belhaven. This means he is 193 points from the magic mark. It was Shawn's 35th straight start and he has scored in 78 straight. The last time Shawn failed to score was Jan. 26, 2004 during his freshman season when the Racers dropped a game at Texas A&M CC.
BANNER YEAR: Walk into the Regional Special Events Center and the first thing you notice is the large number of banners signiffying the Racers 20 Ohio Valley Conference championships. The Racers latest title came last season when they went 24-7 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time. The Racers won the OVC's regular season title and then the OVC Tournament. Before the game the Current MSU players from that team and former players Issian Redding and Chuck Johnson helped unveil the banner before the Racers played Belhaven.
OVC OPENER: It won't be long before the Racers play their earliest OVC opener ever when they host Eastern Illinois Saturday, Nov. 25. Never before have the Racers played a league game in November. Since 1998 MSU has played an OVC game in early December winning them all including last season at home against Eastern Kentucky 80-51.
HOME STREAK: When MSU does return home they will be trying to extend a 12 game winning streak. The Racers streak is tied with George Mason for 10th best in the nation. MSU's last home loss came last season on Dec. 28 when they lost to SIU 57-53. The Racers will also be trying to win for the 100th time in the RSEC against only 15 losses. This is the ninth season for the Racers in the building.
Here is the current MSU home win streak:
12-28-05 Rice Won 83-65
1-5-06 Tenn. State Won 75-67
1-7-06 SE Missouri Won 81-68
1-9-06 Eastern Ill. Won 66-65
1-12-06 Austin Peay Won 67-56
1-26-06 Tenn. Tech Won 55-51
1-30-06 Samford Won 59-38
2-4-06 Jacksonville St. Won 78-72
2-18-06 Illinois-Chicago Won 72-68
2-25-06 UT-Martin Won 81-63
2-28-06 UT-Martin Won 65-52
11-16-06 Belhaven Won 73-72
80 IS THE NUMBER: Much has been made over the last several seasons about MSU getting to 80 points. Since 1990, the Racers are 208-26 when they score 80 or more points. The Racers scored 84 against SDSU and it wasn't enough. It marked the first loss for the Racers when they had scored 80 since Jan. 2, 2005 at Alabama-Birmingham (100-80).
FIRST YEAR COACH: Billy Kennedy, MSU's first year head coach is the Racers 14th head coach since the program began in the 1920's. He'll try and join nine others before him who managed to turn in a winning season in their first year on the job at MSU. The last five MSU head coaches: Steve Newton, Scott Edgar, Mark Gottfried, Tevester Anderson and Mick Cronin all had winning campaigns in their first season at MSU.
LUCKY SHOTS: It is rare indeed when someone manages to make a basket from mid-court or beyond. It has happened against the Racers twice already this season! In the opener, the Racers hit two three-pointers to tie the game at 84 when San Diego State's Brandon Heath connected from mid-court to win the game 87-84. The very next day, the Racers saw JoJay Jackson of Seattle-Pacific hit one from mid-court to beat the first half buzzer.
