Murray State
Illinois-Chicago
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MSU scores comeback win over Illinois-Chicago In Bracket Buster Event
2/18/2006 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Racers, who clinched their first outright Ohio Valley Conference regular season title since 1999 with a win at Tennessee State Thursday night, struggled against a physical Illinois-Chicago squad in the first half.
It took some clutch shots to beat a very talented UIC squad.
The Racers had the ball down 65-61 with 2:15 left. They worked it to Trey Pearson who hit a three pointer from the wing and the UIC lead was cut to one with 1:59 left.
UIC worked their shot clock down to the buzzer, but Jovan Stefanov's three from the top of the key was an out of bounds air ball giving possession back to MSU with 1:18 left.
Again the Racers showed remarkable patience and finally it was Darnell Hopkins who pulled the trigger on a three from the same spot as Pearson's. When it swished through the net, MSU had a 67-65 lead with 42 seconds left, UIC called timeout.
UIC freshman Josh Mayo lost the ball at the top of the key, and as players crashed to the floor, Witherspoon came up with the ball with 35 second left and Pearson was fouled with 31.4 left, but UIC had three fouls to give and finally Tyler Holloway was sent to the line with 20.7 left.
He made both for a 69-65 MSU lead.
After Karl White missed a three in the corner, Justin Orr was fouled on the rebound with 10.1 left. He made both free throws and MSU's lead was 71-65.
Mayo kept UIC alive with a long three with 4.9 left to cut the MSU lead to 71-68. UIC fouled Hopkins who hit one of two free throws to seal a 72-68 victory.
MSU head coach Mick Cronin said he knew it would be a tough game and he was happy with the win.
"We were playing a very good team," Cronin said. "They beat Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Wisconsin-Milwaukee on the road the first place team in the Horizon League, and also San Diego State, who is first place in the Mountain West."
The Racer win came after a they had a hard time defending UIC in the first half.
Hopkins hit a three pointer to put MSU up 12-7 with 11:06, and the Racers went ahead 16-9 on a Hopkins drive moments later.
MSU shot a low percentage hitting nine of their first 23, while UIC hit nine of 18 to start the game.
At the 6:50 mark and the Racers leading 20-18, the Flames put together burst.
Kevin Bond's three gave UIC a 21-20 lead, Mayo followed with another long three off a fast break for a 24-20 lead with 4:22 left and the Flames had a 6-0 run.
MSU battled back to tie the game at 24 on baskets by Pearson and Shawn Witherspoon with 3:17 before half.
But UIC ended the half on an 8-2 run with Mayo ending the scoring with a three with 23 second left for a Flames 32-26 lead at the break.
The Racers fell into a deeper hole at the start of the second half.
With 17:09 left, Jovan Stefanov gave UIC a 41-33 lead with a baseline jumper.
MSU forward Shawn Witherspoon started a fast break with a rebound and it was finished with a lay up by Tyler Holloway to cut the UIC lead to six with 16:46 left.
Mayo's three point play with 15:43 left put the Flames back on top by nine.
Pearson's three pointer drew the Racers closer with 14:20 remaining, it was 44-40 UIC.
MSU finished a 10-0 run when Jenifer scored on a drive down the lane, followed by back to back three pointers by Pearson and Orr. On the next UIC possession, Pearson made a steal and scored on a tip in when Jenifer's lay up came off the rim for a 45-44 Racers lead with 12:55 left.
The two teams played almost even over the next several minutes and the game was tied 53-53 with 8:53 left.
Racers rebounded from shooting 36 percent in the first half (12-33) to shoot 55 percent (16-29) in the second half.
UIC shot 48 precent in the opening half (12-15), but dropped off to 38 percent (11-29) in the second half.
MSU closed the rebounding gap to 37-31 by the end of the game.
Darnell Hopkins scored 12 points on 3-4 shooting from three point range, Pearson and Witherspoon each added 10.
Josh Mayo led UIC with 23 points on 7-8 shooting, he also hit all five of his three point attempts.
The Racers have two regular season games to play before starting the OVC tournament at home Feb. 28.
MSU travels to Cookeville, Tenn. Thursday to face off with Tennessee Tech and Saturday they have senior day when they host Tennessee-Martin.
MSU NOTES:
The win gives the Racers their twenty-first 20-win season and the second for Mick Cronin in three seasons.
MSU has won 10 straight games, the longest streak for Cronin, MSU has also won 15 of their last 16.
It is the best winning streak since the Racers won their final 12 heading into the NCAA Tournament in 1998 before losing to Duke.
MSU has won nine straight at home since a Dec. 28 loss to Southern Illinois.
MSU is now 96-16 (.857) in the RSEC nearing the end of their 8th season in the building.
The Racers are 2-0 in ESPN Bracket Buster games after winning last season at Rice.
Pearson Griffith had two blocks tonight and has 96 in his MSU career good for 9th place on the all-time list. He is three behind 8th place Paul King who played for MSU from 1987-91.
ADDITIONAL CRONIN QUOTES:
"It always helps when you make a few shots at the end of ballgames. Illinois-Chicago played predominantly zone and they changed it up a lot. We got more comfortable as the game went on ? we shot 55 percent in the second half and that just means we adjusted to their zone."
"It just took us time to get comfortable, they run an unusual type of zone defense. At one point we had been outrebounded 34 to 22. So that means we got nine out of the last 12 rebounds, which was big for us."
"One thing I do like about this game is that we get a non-league game this late in the year. It gives us a different look. Sometimes you get in a rhythm playing the same types of games."
"I'm voting for Shawn Witherspoon for OVC Player of the Year. He doesn't have gaudy numbers, but he's a first team all-league player. He leads us in three categories, and he is arguably the best player on the best team in the OVC."
"It's good to have Trey back. I'm trying to help him be the best person/player he can be and to help him get through tough times. I think it's the best thing to be around his teammates, because those are his best friends who care about him. All I want him to worry about is doing the best he can do. He's done that all year and that's good enough for us."
