Murray State University Athletics
Racer Basketball Travels to Missouri Saturday
12/11/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game 8
Murray State
(5-2)
at
Missouri
(7-1)
Saturday 6 p.m.
Columbia, Mo.
Mizzou Arena
The Murray State Racers hit the road for a 6 p.m. game Saturday in Columbia, Mo. with the Missouri Tigers at Mizzou Arena. MSU is coming off a split weekend when they started play in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 58-50 win Dec. 4 at Eastern Kentucky, but dropped a 79-74 game Saturday Dec. 6 at Morehead State. Putting aside the OVC race for a while, MSU prepares for five tough games, all away from home (three of which are at the Puerto Rico Shootout). MSU is 5-2 and lead the OVC in field goal percentage defense holding opponents to 39.5 percent, MSU leads the league in scoring defense allowing only 59.7 points per game. MSU is the best free throw shooting team in the OVC at 81.0 percent. Three Racers are scoring in double-figures: Danero Thomas (11.6), Ivan Aska (11.1), and Isacc Miles (10.0).
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: Tigers lead 3-0
@ Murray: None
@ Columbia: Tigers lead 3-0
Neutral: None
Last Meeting: Tigers won 59-55 in Columbia, Mo. in 2004
First Meeting: Tigers won in Columbia, Mo. 92-52 in 1991
Trend: Tigers have won all three meetings. The last two meetings have been decided by a total of eight points.
Television: Fox Midwest - Dan McLaughlin & Jon Sundvold
Radio: Racer Network (Froggy 103.7 FM) - Neal Bradley & Dave Winder
Internet: GoRacers.com FREE live audio
Click here for GAME NOTES
Click here for LIVE STATS
Click here for LIVE AUDIO
Click here for LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING REPORT: The Tigers are off to a 7-1 start and have won their last five games including a 93-66 win at the Mizzou Arena over California on Sunday. The Tigers placed four players in double-figures including 19 per game from Demarre Caroll. The Tigers win streak began Nov. 21 with an 87-59 win at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off against Fairfield. MU followed that with a win over Southern California by an 83-72 count. Mizzou also defeated Oral Roberts 92-83 at home Nov. 30 and Ark-Pine Bluff 95-41 on Dec. 2. The Tigers have the second highest scoring offense in the Big-12 at 88.8 points per game and lead the conference with a 21.8 scoring margin.
SERIES HISTORY: The Racers and Tigers are meeting for the fourth time. The first meeting came in 1991, a 92-52 win for MU. MSU's meeting with Missouri in 1996 was in the first round of the National Invitational where the Racers gave the Tigers a run before falling 89-85. In 2004 the Tigers got past MSU at home 59-55.
KENNEDY AGAINST MIZZOU: Billy Kennedy has faced Missouri one time in his 11 years as a head coach. It came Dec. 30, 1998 when he was in his 10th game as a head coach at Centenary. The Tigers won the game 77-45.
MSU'S SCHEDULE CHALLENGE: According to RealTimeRPI.com, the Racers have the strongest strength of schedule in the OVC. MSU's 2008-09 schedule is ranked 163rd in the nation. The Racers have been tested against Western Kentucky (30 RPI), and Arkansas State (51). They play the Tigers (68) Saturday and will also face Niagara (64) in Chattanooga, Tenn. Dec. 29. The Racers defeated WKU at home Nov. 22 by an 89-61 score and lost at Arkansas State 55-47 Nov. 19.
NEXT UP: After MSU plays at Missouri, they prepare for a trip to the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico Dec. 20-22 against South Florida, Oral Roberts, and Wright State. Each game begins at 2 p.m. central time. MSU plays Niagara at the Chattanooga Dr. Pepper Classic Dec. 29.
GETTING TO THE LINE: Through seven games, the Racers have made nearly as many free throws as their opponents have attempted. MSU has made 132 and opponents have attempted 139. When the first NCAA statistics report came out Dec. 1, the Racers were second in the nation at just over 84 percent. This week the Racers are third in the nation shooting 81 percent (132-163). Jeffery McClain is 63rd in the nation making 87.2 percent (34-39). Here are the top-10 free throw teams in the NCAA D-I.
| No. | Team | FTM | FTA | Pct. | Rec. |
| 1. | Green Bay | 138 | 160 | 86.3 | 5-2 |
| 2. | UC Davis | 130 | 159 | 81.8 | 3-6 |
| 3. | Murray State | 132 | 139 | 81.0 | 5-2 |
| 4. | Michigan | 112 | 139 | 80.6 | 6-2 |
| 5. | Ill-Chicago | 110 | 137 | 80.3 | 5-2 |
| 6. | Maryland | 126 | 159 | 79.2 | 6-2 |
| 7. | Ole Miss | 142 | 180 | 78.9 | 6-2 |
| 8. | Drake | 115 | 146 | 78.8 | 6-2 |
| 9. | Villanova | 155 | 197 | 78.7 | 8-0 |
| 10. | Utah | 126 | 162 | 77.8 | 5-2 |
CAREER NUMBERS: Tyler Holloway has a good chance of becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 860 points and is 140 points from the magic number.Danero Thomas is more than half way to 1,000 now with 606. Kevin Thomas has 170 career assists. Tony Easley has led the Racers in blocks in two straight seasons and has 49 in his career. He needs 20 to catch 11th place Danny Jarrett (1976-78) and Mike Lahm (1983-85).
AT THE INTERMISSION: The Racers are 30-8 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 36-9 in the last three seasons.
REBOUND BATTLE: The Racers have won the rebound battle in five of their seven games this season. MSU is 5-0 this season when they win this category and 0-2 when they don't. In the Billy Kennedy era, MSU is 24-11 when winning the rebound battle.
MID-MAJOR POLL: Here are the rankings according to midmajor.com. The next poll comes out Dec. 15.
| No. | Team | Rec. | Pts. | Prev. |
| 1. | Gonzaga (31) | 6-0 | 775 | 1 |
| 2. | Davidson | 6-1 | 744 | 2 |
| 3. | St. Mary's CA | 6-1 | 683 | 3 |
| 4. | Illinois State | 8-0 | 682 | 4 |
| 5. | Butler | 7-0 | 669 | 5 |
| 6. | Creighton | 5-2 | 569 | 7 |
| 7. | Coll. of Charleston | 7-1 | 515 | 14 |
| 8. | Western Ky. | 5-2 | 473 | 20 |
| 9. | Ar-Little Rock | 5-1 | 444 | 6 |
| 10, | Siena | 4-3 | 440 | 15 |
| 11. | SF Austin | 4-2 | 343 | 12 |
| 12, | VCU | 5-3 | 323 | 11 |
| 13. | Liberty | 6-2 | 271 | NR |
| 14. | George Mason | 5-2 | 265 | 13 |
| 15. | Cleveland State | 5-4 | 249 | 9 |
| 16. | Mercer | 6-3 | 208 | 10 |
| 17. | Portland | 6-1 | 185 | 23 |
| 18. | Murray State | 5-2 | 175 | 17 |
| 19. | Hofstra | 6-1 | 161 | NR |
| 20. | South Alabama | 6-2 | 126 | NR |
| 21. | VMI | 6-2 | 115 | 25 |
| 22. | Rider | 4-2 | 113 | 22 |
| 23. | Middle Tennessee | 3-3 | 101 | 18 |
| 24. | Missouri State | 4-2 | 96 | NR |
| 25. | Jacksonville State | 6-1 | 94 | NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Kent State 91, Lehigh 89, San Diego 88, Lamar 82, Miami (OH) 65, American 62, Drake 57, Niagara 46, Illinois- Chicago 43, Akron 42, Evansville 50, Bradley 38, Arkansas State 37, Austin Peay 36, Mount St Mary's 32, Portland 30, Navy 28, East Tennessee State 25, Southern Illinois 25, Old Dominion 23, Cornell 21, Wisconsin-Green Bay 19, Wagner 18, Fairfield 15, Belmont 13, UC Riverside 13, Binghamton 12, Tennessee Tech 10, Oakland 7, Savannah State 7, Eastern Washington 4, Hampton 2, North Dakota State 2, Boston University 1, Cal State Fullerton 1, San Francisco 1.
