Murray State University Athletics
Racers Back At RSEC For 146th Meeting With WKU
11/20/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game 3
WKU (1-1)
At
Murray State (1-1)
Saturday 7 p.m.
Murray, Ky.
RSEC
Overall:
WKU leads 94-51@ Murray: MSU leads 31-29
@ Bowling Green: WKU leads 56-12
Neutral: WKU leads 9-8
Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 2007 in Bowling Green, WKU won 87-63
First Meeting: 1932 in Murray, MSU won 26-24.
Trend: The teams have split the last 10 meetings.
Billy Kennedy vs WKU: 0-1
Ken McDonald vs MSU: 0-0
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television:
NewWave Communictions & Mediacom
(NewWave Communications will replay tonight's MSU-WKU game Monday at 7 p.m. and Thursday at 3 p.m. on channel 79. WKAG in Hopkinsville will replay the game Sunday at 12 p.m., Monday at 2 p.m., and Tuesday at 7 p.m.)
Radio:
Froggy 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Nathan Higdon
Internet:
GoRacers.com FREE live audio & live stats
OVCsports.tv PAY live video
GAME NOTES
146TH MEETING: The Murray State Racers return to the Regional Special Events Center for the 146th meeting in their storied history with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The Racers are 1-1 after a Wednesday night 55-47 loss in Jonesboro to Arkansas State in their first road game of the season. The Racers held ASU scoreless until 4:55 into the game and led at the half 28-23. MSU led by as many as seven in the second half, but lost the lead with 8:25 remaining and could never get it back. Danero Thomas led the Racers with 16 points, while Ivan Aska added 13.
SCOUTING THE TOPPERS: WKU is 1-1 after a 73-64 loss at Houston Nov. 15 and a home 62-48 victory on Tuesday over Campbellsville. Jeremy Evans is the Hilltopper's leading scorer at 12 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game, while Orlando Mendez-Valdez scores 9.0 ppg and Uros Komadinic 8.5 ppg.
IT ALL STARTED IN 1932: WKU leads MSU in the all-time series 94-51, but the Racers hold a 31-29 advantage at home including a 3-1 mark in the RSEC. They met last season in Bowling Green, Ky. and WKU was an 87-63 winner. WKU won the last meeting in Murray, Ky. in 2004 by an 82-72 score. The last Racer win was at Diddle Arena in 2003 in double-overtime 100-95. Each team has posted five wins in the last 10 meetings of the series that dates all the way back to 1932.
HOME SWEET RSEC: The Racers are playing their 11th season of basketball in the RSEC and enter the game with a 120-23 all-time mark (.839) and are 15-2 in the last two seasons. MSU is 36-9 (.800) all-time in the RSEC against non-Ohio Valley Conference teams. MSU has won 14 of their last 16 games against non-conference D-I teams dating back to 2002. Those two losses came to WKU in 2004 and last season to Indiana State. When conference play begins at the RSEC Jan. 8 against Tennessee State, the Racers will carry an eight-game OVC home streak.
THE RACER CHALLENGE: The Racers once again have a challenging preconference portion of their schedule. After the WKU game, the Racers hit the road for Terre Haute, Ind. looking for their first win at Indiana State. MSU also has tough games coming at Missouri (Dec. 13) as well as a trip to Puerto Rico (Dec. 20-22) to play South Florida, Oral Roberts, and Wright State. The Racers will meet Niagara (Dec. 29) in Chattanooga, Tenn.
NON-OVC TILTS:
The Racers are 16-4 since 2001 in non-conference D-I games at the RSEC. Their loss last February to Indiana State in the ESPN Bracket Buster snapped a six-game win streak.2-23-08 ^Indiana St. Lost 62-79
11-26-07 Arkansas St. Won 81-67
11-10-07 Rider Won 66-65
2-18-06 ^Ill-Chicago Won 72-68
12-30-05 Rice Won 83-65
12-22-04 Delaware St. Won 68-39
12-01-04 Texas-SA Won 69-58
12-04-04 WKU Lost 72-82
02-23-04 TX A&M-CC Won 73-53
12-17-03 SIU Won 68-64
12-13-03 Chicago St. Won 100-80
11-29-03 Southern Miss. Won 94-54
11-22-03 Wagner Won 92-68
01-01-03 Middle Tenn. Won 76-64
12-19-02 Indiana State Won 85-39
12-07-02 WKU Won 83-72
01-05-02 Gardner-Webb Lost 66-80
12-29-01 SIU Lost 63-67
12-01-01 UAB Won 74-69
11-29-01 Chattanooga Won 72-63
FRESHMAN DEBUT:
Ivan Aska is two games into his Racer career and already has shown to be a talented player. In MSU's opener against Lyon College he scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Against Arkansas State, Aska was 5-9 from the field for 13 points and added another seven rebounds. He is 9-18 from the field in the two games.NEXT UP ON THE SCHEDULE:
Murray State travels to Terre Haute for the next game on Wednesday Nov. 26 with Indiana State, while WKU will host host Southern Illinois on the same night.AT THE INTERMISSION:
The Racers are 27-8 in the Billy Kennedy era when taking the lead at halftime.THE 5:00 MARK:
The Racers have an excellent mark when getting to the five minute mark of the second half with the lead. MSU is 32-8 in the last three seasons.STARTING STRONG:
Danero Thomas led the Racers in scoring at Arkansas State with 16 points on 7-16 shooting. Thomas has led the team in scoring 14 times in his MSU career.CAREER NUMBERS:
Tyler Holloway is on his way to becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 824 points and is 176 points from the magic number. Danero Thomas is more than half way to 1,000 now with 546. Kevin Thomas has 147 career assists. Tony Easley has led the Racers in blocks in two straight seasons and has 47 in his career. He needs 22 to catch 11th place Danny Jarrett (1976-78) and Mike Lahm (1983-85). WHAT A STREAK: One story line in the 08-09 season will be Murray State's push to ensure another winning season. MSU has 21 straight winning seasons which is tied for fourth in the nation with Connecticut. The Racers share the same neighborhood with first place Syracuse (38 years), Oklahoma (27 years) and Kansas (25 years). MSU hasn't had a losing season since the 1986-87 campaign.HOME OPENER: The Racers defeated Lyon College in their home opener 84-46. MSU has won 19 straight home openers and haven't lost one since 1989 when they fell to Southern Illinois in triple overtime at old Racer Arena. MSU is 11-0 in home openers in the RSEC.
POSTSEASON DREAMS:
When the Racers get to the OVC Tournament at the end of the regular season, they want to secure a home game at the very least, the top four seeds host the bottom four seeds at campus sites in the quarterfinals. Since the league began staging campus games, the Racers have always hosted a first round game in 12 seasons. MSU has been the first seed four times, second seed twice, third seed four times and the fourth seed twice.EARNING HARDWARE:
When the All-OVC awards roll around at the end of the season, the Racers will looking to have an All-OVC First Team selection again. They've had one in 27 of the last 28 seasons.GRAND SLAM OF STATS:
Murray State ended the 2007-08 season with a rare distinction in NCAA D-I. In conference play, MSU was the only team to lead its league in these four categories: field goal percentage (.498), field goal defense (.412), three-point percentage (.408), and three-point defense (.321). There were only five teams in the nation that led their conferences in three of the categories: Kansas (Big-12), American (Patriot), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), and Gonzaga (West Coast).HOME SWEET HOME:
The Regional Special Events Center continues to be a great home court advantage for the Racers who were 14-2 last season and upped their record in 11 seasons in the building to 120-23 (.839). MSU has a streak of 10 straight home wins in OVC games. Kennedy is 18-6 at the RSEC in OVC games.HOME COURT NUMBERS:
Here is how the Racers' home record compares in the OVC since the 2003-04 season.Team 08-09 Since 03-04 Pct.
Murray State 1-0 62-13 .826
Tennessee Tech 1-0 56-14 .800
Eastern KY 1-0 50-19 .724
Tennessee St. 0-1 36-25 .590
Jacksonville St. 1-0 41-29 .585
Morehead St. 0-0 39-28 .582
UT-Martin 1-0 35-28 .555
SE Missouri St. 0-0 35-31 .530
Eastern Illinois 1-0 29-36 .446
MSU SIGNINGS:
The Racers signed two in the early signing period this week. Isaiah Canaan, a 5-11 guard from Biloxi, Miss. and Edward Daniel, a 6-7 forward from Birmingham, Ala. signed a national letter of intent to play for the Racers.Isaiah Canaan
(pronounced Cannon) is an outstanding talent from Biloxi High School where he ended his junior season with Mississippi 5A All-State honors. He was also named to the state all-tournament team after Biloxi advanced to the semifinals. Canaan was named to the Mississippi All-South State Tournament Team, the Sun Herald All-Region Team, and 5A-8 All District Team. He averaged 20 points and seven assists per game. Canaan is ranked as the fourth-best player in Mississippi by MagnoliaPreps.com, and is a 4-star prospect (out of five) by Centercourtbasketball.com. The Clarion Ledger listed him among their Dandy Dozen.Edward Daniel
is a 6-7 power forward with tremendous potential from Woodlawn High School. He has been named to the Birmingham News class of 2009 super seniors, ranked seventh on the list of the top-12 players in the metro area. Daniel is a three-star Rivals.com recruit who averaged 14 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks per game as a junior where he was First Team All-City and Alabama 5A All-State Honorable Mention. Daniel played AAU ball with the Birmingham Ice last summer and was chosen as the most athletic player at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina.Colin Slotter
is a 6-5 wing/forward from North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Ga. Slotter averaged 12 points and five rebounds last season as a junior and impressed many with his play over the summer at the Reebok All-American camp and Reebok Summer Championships.
