Murray State University Athletics
MSU's 83rd Basketball Season Opens With Rider
11/9/2007 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday marks the beginning of the 83rd season of Murray State Basketball when the Racers hit the hardwood to take on the Broncs of Rider University in the season and home opener for the 2007-08 season. The game also marks the beginning of the 10th season of hoops for the Racers at the Regional Special Events Center where they have fashioned a 105-21 record. Head coach Billy Kennedy enters his second season at MSU and his 23rd in the college game with much anticipation and optimism as the Racers return most of the club that finished with a 16-14 mark and earned a second place finish (13-7) in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers are anchored by seniors Bruce Carter (Preseason All-OVC) and Ray George. Juniors Tyler Holloway, Kevin Thomas, and Tarod Sanders and four sophomores, Tony Easley, Marvin Williams, Danero Thomas and Georges Fotso along with freshmen Matt Fraliex and Jewuan Long will also be counted on during the 2007-08 season.
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GAME NOTES
OVC PREDICTIONS: On Oct. 10th the Racers were picked fourth in the OVC preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Austin Peay was the choice to win the regular season title with 19 first place votes, followed by Eastern Kentucky (1 first place vote) and Tennessee Tech (two first place votes). The Racers were 2-4 against the trio last season. Southeast Missouri was selected 5th, with Tennessee State (6th), Samford (7th), Eastern Illinois (8th), Jacksonville State (9th), Morehead State (10th) and UT-Martin 11th. The Racers first league game is at home against EKU Dec. 5.
QUITE A STREAK: The Racers have won their last 17 home openers and are 9-0 in the RSEC. MSU is 56-3 since 1948 and have never lost two straight. The last time MSU's home opener was also the season opener was 2004 when they defeated SIU-Edwardsville 75-67. MSU's last defeat was in triple overtime to SIU at Racer Arena 114-108 in 1989.
RIDER-MURRAY PART TWO: The Racers and Broncs met last Feb. 17 in New Jersey in an ESPN Bracket Buster game that MSU won 58-51. The win secured a winning season for MSU. The Racers held the Broncs to 28 percent shooting for the game while getting 19 points from Danero Thomas and 10 from Tyler Holloway. Marvin Williams grabbed a career high nine rebounds and scored eight points. MSU held Rider to 14 percent from three point range (3-21). Rider held a 33-27 lead at the half.
MSU RENEWS WKU SERIES:
Next Saturday the Racers travel to Bowling Green to take on Western Kentucky in Diddle Arena, marking their first trip there since winning a double overtime game in 2003. The last meeting between the two was at the RSEC in 2004 when Western scored their first win in Murray since 1988. Western was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference from 1948 to 1982 and leads the all-time series 93-51. MSU has won seven of the last 11.HOME OPENERS:
Here are all of the home openers the Racers have played in the Regional Special Events Center. MSU is 9-0 in home openers in the RSEC.1998 ^#Southern Illinois Won 65-62
1999 ^Colorado-Col. Spr. Won 90-63
2000 ^Gardner-Webb Won 103-76
2001 ^West Florida Won 100-61
2002 ^West Florida Won 87-66
2003 ^Wagner Won 92-68
2004 ^SIU-Edwardsville Won 75-67
2005 Campbellsville Won 76-51
2006 Belhaven Won 73-72
^ Also the season opener
# First game in the RSEC
RACER DEBUTS: MSU players Jewuan Long, Matt Fraliex, and Tarod Sanders will be making their MSU debut. The best debut for a Racer since 1984 was Antoine Whelchel's 27 points against Gardner-Webb in 2000. MSU senior Bruce Carter was impressive in his debut last season when he scored 19 against San Diego State in the opener.
Here are other top performances for a Racer in his first game.
1996 D.T. Mayes 18 H Belmont
1984 Cedric Macklin 17 H W. Va. Tech
2003 Kelvin Brown 16 H Wagner
1991 Maurice Cannon 15 H Illinois Tech
1984 Chuck Glass 15 H W. Va.Tech
1994 Greg Anderson 13 H Camp-ville
1997 Duane Virgil 13 A Dayton
2001 Rashard Harris 13 H West Fla.
1995 Darren Dawson 13 H Berry
2006 Kevin Thomas 12 H Jax State
IF THERE IS OT:
The Racers worked overtime in four games last season for only the second time in records that date back to 1983. In the 1989-90 season MSU played four overtime games, losing in triple overtime to SIU (the last home opening loss for MSU), a win at Texas-San Antonio, a win at home against Tennessee State, and a loss to 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.DEFENSE SHINES:
MSU will again hang its collective hat on its defense. In 2007-08 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:
Watch for the five minute mark of the second half, because it has been a key moment on if the Racers are on the winning end or not. Last season when MSU had the lead with five minutes left they were 14-3, and 1-10 when they trailed.HOLLOWAY AND THE THREE:
Sophomore Tyler Holloway will soon be entering the top-10 three-point marksmen of all-time at MSU. His first 10 three-pointers of the season will catch 10th place Aubrey Reese (97-00) at 105. Ninth place at 107 is Aaron Page (96-00).SIMMONS JOINS TEAM:
Picasso Simmons of Gallatin, Tenn. has joined the MSU team as a walk-on student-athlete. He'll wear number 14.HOME COOKIN:
The Racers have fashioned quite a home court advantage at the RSEC. In its 10th season of games, MSU is 105-21 for a winning percentage of .833. Here is how the Racers compare with the rest of the teams in the OVC since the 2003-04 season.Team 06-07 Since 03-04 Pct.
Austin Peay 13-3 43-10 .811
Murray State 8-5 47-11 .810
Eastern Kentucky 9-3 40-13 .754
Samford 9-4 38-13 .745
Jacksonville St. 6-7 34-20 .629
Tennessee St. 7-6 30-19 .612
UT-Martin 5-8 26-22 .541
Morehead St. 7-7 28-25 .538
SE Missouri St. 5-8 28-25 .528
Eastern Illinois 6-7 23-28 .450
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.MILES JOINS MSU:
Guard Isaac Miles transferred to Murray State this summer after an outstanding freshman season at Creighton. He will sit out the 2007-08 season under NCAA transfer guidelines and be eligible to play as a sophomore in 2008-09. In his first season at Creighton in 2006-07 he averaged 6.1 points per game along with 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists and was selected as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Freshman team.OVC VIDEO STREAMING:
OVC member institutions received great reviews in the first year of offering live streaming video. All OVC games and many out of conference games are again offered to fans and media with live video and home team announcers audio at www.ovcsports.tv.
