Murray State University Athletics
Murray State Hits The Road For WKU
11/15/2007 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers renew their long running series with Western Kentucky in what is the 145th game of a series that began in 1932. The Racers are coming off a thrilling 66-65 win in their season and home opener Saturday over the Rider Broncs. The win was the Racers' 18th straight in home openers and it made their record in the Regional Special Events Center a sparkling 106-21 in their 10th season in the building. MSU's Kevin Thomas hit a free throw with two tenths of a second remaining for the win.
Murray State hits the road for the first time this season to face a 2-0 WKU squad that has posted a 39-6 record at Diddle Arena over the last three seasons. The game will renew a rivalry that started in 1932 and continued as MSU and WKU became founding members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The last time they met as OVC members was in 1982. The two will be meeting for the first time since 2004 when the Hilltoppers beat the Racers in Murray for the first time since 1988. The game will be the Racers' first trip to Diddle Arena since winning there in double overtime in 2003. WKU leads the all-time series 93-51. MSU has won seven of the last 11.
Web Audio: Click here for live game day free audio on the Racer Radio Network
The Racers return home to host Avila University Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
MSU RENEWS WKU SERIES: The 145th meeting between MSU and WKU makes a long running series, but not the top one. That goes to Oregon and Oregon State who have played 325 times.
KENNEDY AND BERRY:
Western Kentucky assistant Neill Berry and MSU head coach Billy Kennedy have good memories of their time together at Southeastern Louisiana. Berry was a player for Kennedy from 2000-2005. At SLU, Berry started 30 games and helped the Lions advance to the NCAA Tournament in the 2003-04 season.KENNEDY VS SUN BELT:
The game will be the first time Billy Kennedy has faced the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky is the 91st team Kennedy has faced as a head coach. He has faced eight other teams in the Sun Belt Conference. MSU will host Arkansas State of the Sun Belt at the RSEC Nov. 26.TAKING CARE OF THE BALL:
MSU junior point guard Kevin Thomas had an eye opening stat line in the Racers' win over Rider. He played 34 minutes, scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed two rebounds and had three steals. The stat that really jumps out is only one turnover.SANDERS EARNS OVC HONOR:
MSU junior Tarod Sanders was voted by the league's sports information directors as the OVC's Newcomer of the Week Monday. Sanders came off the bench and supplied great defense and 10 points in the Racers' 66-65 win over Rider.MSU-WKU LAST TIME: The Hilltoppers won in Murray, Ky. in 2004 for the first time since 1988. The Racers led 37-30 at the half, but WKU put up a 52 point second half to win the game 82-72.
DEFENSE SHINES:
MSU will again hang its collective hat on its defense. In 2006-07 the Racers led the OVC in defensive field goal percentage when they held opponents to .411 from the field and they were also first in three-point defense, opponents only managed to shoot .307.CRITICAL TIME:
The five minute mark of the second half was again key for the Racers against Rider. Last season when MSU had the lead with five minutes left they were 14-3, and 1-10 when they trailed. Sure enough, they had the lead at five minutes against Rider and held on for a one point win.WHAT A STREAK:
One story line in the 07-08 season will be Murray State's push to ensure another winning season. MSU currently has 20 straight years of winning hoops which is tied for fourth in the nation with Connecticut. The Racers share the same neighborhood with first place Syracuse (37 years), Oklahoma (27 years) and Kansas (24 years). MSU hasn't had a losing season since the 1986-87 campaign.Here is a look at the best of the best.
CONSECUTIVE WINNING SEASONS
2. Oklahoma 27
3. Kansas 24
4. MURRAY STATE 20
Connecticut 20
6. Oklahoma State 19
7. Kentucky 17
8. Coll. of Charleston 16
Gonzaga 16
10. Maryland 14
Stanford 14
Utah State 14
14. Duke 12
15. Michigan State 11
UNLV 11
Xavier 11
18. Creighton 10
IF THERE IS OT:
The MSU-Rider game looked destined for overtime Satruday, but the Racers avoided it when Kevin Thomas hit a free throw with two tenths of a second left on the clock. Last season MSU played in four overtime games for only the second time in records that date back to 1983. MSU is 21-13 in overtime games since 1983 and were 2-2 last season. The Racers have played 11 overtime games in OVC play since 2000 and are 5-6. One of MSU's four overtime games from the 1989-90 season was against Michigan State in Knoxville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That game is still the only time a #16 seed has taken a #1 seed into overtime.HOLLOWAY AND THE THREE:
The all-time career three point list will soon be making room for junior Tyler Holloway. He hit one three pointer against Rider and now has 96 for his MSU career. 11th place Aubrey Reese (97-00) has 105 and 10th place Aaron Page (96-00) has 107. Take a look at the all-time three point shooters at Murray State. 1. Frank Allen 1989-93 251
2. Don Mann 1986-89 204
3. Justin Burdine 1998-02 198
4. Marcus Brown 1993-96 173
Paul King 1987-91 173
6. Chris Shumate 1999-04 170
7. Rick Jones 2002-04 133
8. Antoine Whelchel 2000-04 124
9. William Moore 1994-95 123
10. Aaron Page 1996-00 107
11. Aubrey Reese 1997-00 105
HOME COOKIN:
The Racers will return home Nov. 23 to Avila University at the RSEC. With the Racers' win over Rider, they have now won 18 straight home openers and have fashioned quite a home court advantage at the RSEC. In its 10th season of games, MSU is 106-21 for a winning percentage of .834.
