Murray State University Athletics
MSU Begins 2007 At EIU
12/31/2006 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State
(5-8) (3-2 OVC)
at
Eastern Illinois
(5-9) (1-4 OVC)
Tuesday Jan. 2
Lantz Arena
Charleston, Ill.
For the first time in nearly two weeks the Murray State Racers return to the floor with their second game of the season against the Panthers of Eastern Illinois. The Racers enter the game 5-8 overall and 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference having lost the last time out Dec. 21 at home to Samford 55-44. Prior to that, MSU had won back to back games (70-67) at Morehead State and 73-71 in overtime at home against Jacksonville State. About a month ago, the Racers beat the Panthers 53-50 in Murray in what was the first-ever OVC game played in November. The Racers have embarked on a tremendous challenge in this 2006-07 season which calls for putting a team on the floor that can challenge for the league title. However, MSU works toward that goal using only one player (Shawn Witherspoon) that has played more than one season at the NCAA D-I level. Through the first 13 games, head coach Billy Kennedy has used nine different starting lineups.
The Panthers are 5-9 overall and 1-4 in the OVC. EIU has lost four of their last five after winning four of six. EIU's last time out was Dec. 28 in a 63-51 loss at Eastern Michigan, a game in which EIU held a 32-27 lead at halftime, but were held to 19 second half points. Freshman sensation Romain Martin led the Panthers with 17 points off the bench on 6-12 shooting. Prior to the Eastern Michigan game, EIU defeated Western Illinois at home 76-56 after losing back to back OVC home games to Eastern Kentucky 73-57 and Morehead State 71-63.
In league play the Racers are trying to reverse several trends in key statistics. MSU is shooting .401 from the field, down from their season average of .436 and the Racers also want to improve in the rebounding department where they are currently suffering a 30 rebound deficit in five OVC games.
Bruce Carter has been the Racers most consistent performer in OVC play and is averaging 14.4 points per game, while Tyler Holloway is scoring 8.4 and Shawn Witherspoon 8.0.
GAME NOTES:
HOME COURT STREAK STOPPED: coming into the Samford game, the Racers had the nation's 11th longest home court winning streak at 15. The Racers join these schools who have also had long home win streaks stopped this season:
Iowa 20 Northern Iowa 57-55
Western Ky. 14 Southern Ill. 75-70
Nevada 12 UNLV 59-49
OVC HOME STREAK STOPPED: The Racers also had an impressive OVC home regular season win streak of 14 straight stopped in the Samford loss. MSU hadn't lost an OVC home game in the regular season since Feb. 10, 2005 when Tennessee Tech beat the Racers 72-68.
PARITY PARTY: The OVC is very competitive through the first 21 league games with nearly every game going down to the wire. The average margin of victory is only 4.9 points per game. 15 games have been decided by five points or less and only four have been decided by 10 or more.
REBOUNDING UPDATE: Five different players have led the Racers in rebounding in the last five games.
Paul vs Samford 12-21 8
Kennedy vs Jack. St. 12-19 10
Carter vs Morehead 12-9 11
Witherspoon vs Eastern Ky. 12-7 6
Easley vs Anderson 12-4 9
HORTON STREAK ENDS: Ed Horton had led the Racers in assists in eight straight games until Ray George had a team best two assists Dec.21 against Samford.
FOR STARTERS:
The Racers have used nine different lineups through the first 13 games. Tyler Holloway has started all 13 games this season.SPOON WATCH: Shawn Witherspoon's run to join the Murray State 1000-Point Club has been slowed because a foot injury. Currently he is 117 points away from the magic number. Witherspoon's string of 43 straight starts ended when he couldn't go against Samford Dec.21.
POPEYE COMING BACK: One of the all-time greats at Murray State, Popeye Jones, is coming back Jan. 19. Popeye will be inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame along with five others in the class of 2007. Popeye played at Murray State from 1989-1992 and still ranks as the racers best all-time rebounder and second all-time scorer. After his time in Murray, Popeye enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA with Dallas, Toronto, Boston, Washington and Golden State.
OVC EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament is set for March 2-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. The OVC has announced its "Early Bird Special" offering ticket discounts and free concessions. Check the front page of ovcsports.com for details. The special offer is good through Feb. 20.
OVC VIDEO STREAMING: OVC member institutions are receiving great reviews in the first year of offering live streaming video. All OVC games are being offered to fans and media with live video and home team announcers audio at www.ovcsports.tv.
