MSU Defeats UTM 76-72 - Now Second In OVC - Murray State University Athletics

Saturday, January 19

Martin, Tenn.

6:00 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee-Martin

MSU Defeats UTM 76-72 - Now Second In OVC

1/19/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

The Murray State Racers built an 11-point lead with 3:20 remaining and held off a determined team from UT-Martin Saturday for a 76-72 win at the Elam Center in Martin, Tenn. The win moved the Racers into sole possession of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 6-3 record. MSU has won five straight games, the best streak in two seasons that Billy Kennedy has been head coach, and the Racers improved to 10-7 overall.

“I think we got into some foul trouble and had trouble in-bounding the ball late in the game,” Kennedy said. “But our guys weathered the storm against a very good team.”

The Racers made it a top priority to slow down the second leading scorer in the nation, Lester Hudson, who entered the game scoring 27.2 points per game.

Murray State grabbed a 10-point advantage at the 8:20 mark of the half when Ray George was charging on a fast break and fed Tony Easley for a slam-dunk and a 23-13 lead.

MSU's lead grew to 12 when Kevin Thomas hit the second of two long-range three-point bombs, as MSU's lead was 31-19 with 5:40 before half.

MSU went to the break with a 36-29 lead.

The Racers did manage to keep Hudson in check as he went 2-of-8 from the field in the half for seven points.

Hudson woke up in the second half and scored 18 of the Skyhawks first 20 of the second half as UTM tied the game 49-49 with 11:06 remaining.

George continued to provide a spark for MSU and hit a three after wild chase for a loose ball to give the Racers a 54-49 lead at the 9:30 mark.

Danero Thomas made a spectacular three-point play at 7:59 to keep the Racers in front 59-54 moments after Hudson hit his sixth three-pointer of the game. Thomas hit the shot with his back to the basket.

MSU continued to pour on the defensive pressure, getting some stops against Hudson and started to build a lead.

George scored two easy baskets on UTM turnovers and the Racers had a 65-54 lead with 6:12 left.

The Racers run was 11-3 after leading by three with 9:08 left.

MSU would not be able to cruise though, as UTM's Marquis Weddle hit two three-pointers to cut the Racer lead to 71-66 with 2:10 left.

After an MSU miss with 40 seconds left, Hudson got a steal and easy basket to cut the MSU lead to 71-70 at 32.9.

Tyler Holloway made two free throws with 26.9 left for another three-point MSU lead, but Gerald Robinson cut it back to one with 20.5 remaining on a tip in.

Bruce Carter hit two free throws at 15.7 and D. Thomas added another at 1.3 for MSU to seal the 76-72 final.

George ended the night with 13 points off the MSU bench on 5-of-8 shooting.

“Ray's had a good week of practice,” Kennedy said. “He likes challenges (like guarding Lester Hudson) and he did a good job on Hudson. Ray is capable and has really worked hard.”

While Hudson still finished the game with 32 points, MSU came up with a defensive effort to win the game.

“We had a good effort on Hudson, we threw everything we had at him and maybe got him a little tired late in the game,” Kennedy added. “It's a success because we won. I'm thankful we had enough guys to run at him, he's a great player.”

Danero Thomas led the way for MSU with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, Bruce Carter matched George's 13 points.

Marvin Williams came off the bench and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds to go along with two blocks.

GAME NOTES

Billy Kennedy is 26-21 at MSU.

MSU is 32-2 all-time against UT-Martin and have won the last 14.

It was an interesting week in the OVC as the home team won 8-of-10 games. The only two visiting teams to win from Thursday and Saturday were the Racers, and Samford at Eastern Kentucky. The Bulldogs did it in Richmond, Ky. 64-57. The Racers are 6-3 and moved into solo second place in the league after Southeast Missouri lost at Tennessee Tech 93-76 and fell to 6-4. SEMO is in a third place tie now with Morehead State (who defeated Jacksonville State at home 85-70) and Tech.

Tyler Holloway was 1-of-3 from three-point range tonight and has 128 for his MSU career. With six more, he'll move past Rick Jones (2002-04) for seventh place on the all-time MSU list.

When the game is on the line, the Racers have been stellar from the free throw line. Tonight they hit 5-of-6 inside the two-minute mark and for the season are 37-of-44 (.840).

With an announced crowd of 4,109, MSU enjoyed having a huge group of fans in the stands. The MSU fans made it sound like a home game at times. Billy Kennedy said the players noticed, and so did he. “When we have that kind of fan support, it makes you want to win, not only for yourself, but for all of the fans.”

Bruce Carter's free throw streak ended at eight. Tyler Holloway has now made four straight, while Kevin Thomas did not shoot a free throw tonight and his streak is still at nine straight. Holloway's streak of 19 straight is the best this season for MSU.

MSU's five-game winning streak is the best for Billy Kennedy at MSU. The last big win streak for MSU was in the second half of the 2005-06 season when the Racers won 10 straight. In case you're wondering, the Racers best win streak ever is 16, coming twice, in the 1935-36 season and again in 1936-37 under head coach Carlisle Cutchin.

In his 10th season as a head coach, Kennedy can match his longest winning streak if the Racers can win Thursday at home against Tennessee Tech. In his final season at Southeastern Louisiana in 2004-05, Kennedy's Lions won six straight. The wins came against Lamar, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, Nicholls State, Stephen F. Austin, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Racers are back home for two next week. Thursday, they host Tennessee Tech at 7:30 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center. Saturday, MSU has Southeast Missouri at the RSEC for a 2 p.m. game on Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.