Murray State
Samford
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MSU Hosts Samford In Search Of 8th Straight Win
1/29/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Samford
(9-11) (6-6 OVC)
at
Murray State
(12-7) (8-3)
Tonight 7 p.m.
RSEC
Murray, Ky.
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The Murray State Racers host the Samford Bulldogs Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center in the last of a three-game home stand. The game finds the Racers with a seven-game winning streak in tow, a period of time in which they have found a way to get the job done every time since beating Tennessee State Jan. 5. How is MSU doing it? Very simply, they're playing well on both ends of the court. During the last seven wins MSU is shooting .488 from the field, while opponents are hitting only .408. In three-point shooting, MSU is hitting .417, and holding the opponent to .313. The win streak is the 21st such streak since the 1979-80 campaign covering 29 seasons. The streak is the tied for the seventh best active streak in the nation.
The Racers are coming off an 86-85 win Saturday against Southeast Missouri after trailing by as many as 10 in the second half. MSU was trailing when Tyler Holloway hit a pair of free throws with 5.8 seconds left to beat the Redhawks. Bruce Carter had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds as MSU placed five in double-figure scoring.
The Racers are still in control of a rare grand-slam of stat categories in the OVC. In league games, MSU leads in field goal percentage (.487), and three-point percentage (.405) and in defense of those categories, FG defense (.425) and three-point defense (.330). The Racers' are ranked nationally in the top-100 in field goal percentage (29th), rebound margin (59th), free throw percentage (78th), assists per game (89th), and steals per game (96th). Kevin Thomas ranks 97th in assists per game and 91st in assist/turnover ratio.
The MSU-Samford series doesn't have as many games as some of the Racers' biggest rivals, but since the Bulldogs joined the OVC, this one has always been a big game. The Racers dropped a 65-64 contest in their first meeting Dec. 20 in a game that will forever be controversial. The all-time series is tied 10-10, but in OVC games the Bulldogs lead 5-3 and have won three of four in Murray. Samford has won the last two and the Racers lead 7-4 when the game is played in Murray.
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Tied 10-10
@ Murray: Racers lead 7-4
@ Birmingham: Bulldogs lead 5-2
Neutral: Tied 1-1
OVC Tourney: Tied 1-1
First Meeting: 1934 MSU won 41-26
Last Meeting: Dec. 20 SU won 65-64
Trend: Home team has won the last three games
Billy Kennedy vs SU: 2-7
Jimmy Tillette vs MUR: 6-3
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: MSU TV-11 Delay 10 p.m.
Radio: Froggy 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Josh Perigo
Internet: GoRacers.com FREE live audio & OVCsports.tv PAY live video
GAME NOTES
KENNEDY'S RUN:
Head coach Billy Kennedy now has his longest winning streak in 10 seasons as a head coach. MSU's seven-game streak tops the one Kennedy had at Southeastern Louisiana durng the 2004-05 season.TERRIFIC TRIO:
Together they're one senior, one junior, and one sophomore and they've led the Racers in scoring this season in 17 of 19 games. Bruce Carter, Tyler Holloway, and Danero Thomas have combined to lead MSU in scoring 36 times over the last two seasons.A WIN MEANS:
The Racers are 13-7 overall and 9-3 OVC and have won eight straight and seven straight at the RSEC. Billy Kennedy is 29-21 at MSU. The Racers are 11-10 all-time against Samford. The Racers are 115-22 (.839) all-time in the RSEC and 10-1 this season.A LOSS MEANS:
The Racers are 12-8 and have snapped a seven-game winning streak. The Racers are 8-4 in the OVC. MSU's six-game home winning streak is over and they are 114-23 (.832) in the RSEC and 9-2 this season.RUNNING RACERS:
MSU's seven-game win streak is tied for seventh best in the nation. Duke, Oral Roberts, Rider, and VCU have also won seven straight. Kansas has the nation's longest streak now at 20, Memphis has 19, while Drake has 17, and South Alabama has won 13 in a row.STATS IN THE STREAK:
During the winning streak, Bruce Carter is scoring 17.9 points per game and getting 6.9 rebounds. Tyler Holloway has 14 steals, while Kevin Thomas has 40 assists. MSU is +28 in assist/turnover ratio and are +43 in rebound margin. There are currently 341 teams in NCAA D-I. The rankings do not count wins or losses against non-D-I teams. As of Jan. 28.RANK TEAM REC
74 Western Kentucky 14-5
100 Chattanooga 11-7
130 Austin Peay 13-8
131 Rider 15-6
139 Belmont 12-8
174 Murray State 10-7
221 Morehead State 8-10
228 UT-Martin 8-12
254 Tennessee State 7-11
262 Eastern Kentucky 7-10
265 SE Missouri State 9-11
272 Arkansas State 7-11
291 Samford 7-11
307 Tennessee Tech 7-13
339 Jacksonville State 2-16
341 Eastern Illinois 2-17
HOME COOKIN:
With the Racers' win over Rider Nov. 10, 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 111-22 for a winning percentage of .834. Here is how the Racers compare with the rest of the teams in the OVC since the 2003-04 season.Team 07-08 Since 03-04 Pct.
Murray State 9-1 56-12 .823
Tennessee Tech 5-4 53-12 .815
Eastern KY 6-4 46-17 .730
Samford 5-6 43-19 .693
Tennessee St. 4-3 34-22 .607
Jacksonville St. 4-7 38-27 .584
Morehead St. 7-0 35-25 .583
SE Missouri St. 6-2 34-27 .557
UT-Martin 4-4 30-26 .535
Eastern Illinois 3-6 26-34 .433
