MSU Prepares For San Juan Shootout

San Juan Shootout
Murray State
vs
South Florida
Saturday 2 p.m. cst

Murray State
vs
Oral Roberts
Sunday 2 p.m. cst

Murray State
vs
Wright State
Monday 2 p.m. cst

All games will be played in Toa Baja, P.R. at Mario Morales Coliseum

MEDIA INFORMATION
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 AUDIO

GAME NOTES

The Murray State Racers travel to the San Juan Shootout Dec. 20-22 for games against South Florida, Oral Roberts, and Wright State. The Racers play each game at 2 p.m. central time. All games of the San Juan Shootout will be played in the community of Toa Baja at the Antonio Barcelo Coliseum.

The Racers (5-3) are coming off a 79-74 loss at Missouri last Saturday in a game where they cut a 17-point deficit to four inside the four-minute mark. Isacc Miles leads the squad in scoring at 11.0 per game, while Ivan Aska and Danero Thomas each add 10.6.

SCOUTING REPORT
South Florida (3-4)
The Bulls are coached by Stan Heath (2nd season) and coming off a 70-55 home loss Sunday to Niagara and a 71-52 loss at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. USF is led in scoring by Jesus Verdejo and Dominique Jones who both score more than 17 points per game. The Bulls rank 51st in the nation in scoring defense giving 60.7 points per game and 31st in field goal percentage defense in holding opponents to 37.6 percent from the field. USF is stingy in three-point defense with a national ranking of 28 as teams are being held to 27.9 percent. Verdejo is 24th in the country making 3.4 three-point shots per game. This meeting is the first between the Bulls and Racers.

Oral Roberts (2-7)
The Golden Eagles are coached by Scott Sutton (10th season) and coming off a 100-84 loss to North Carolina and were scheduled to play at New Mexico on Wednesday. ORU is led in scoring by Robert Jarvis at a clip just under 20 points per game. ORU has four players averaging in double-figures. Jarvis is ranked 55th in points per game and 55th with 3.0 made three-pointers per game. The Racers and ORU have met seven times with ORU leading 5-2. All of the games were played in the 1970's with the last in 1977, an 80-66 ORU win at Racer Arena.

Wright State (2-7)
The Raiders are coached by Brad Brownell (3rd season) and coming off a 66-53 loss Sunday at Wake Forest and were scheduled to play at home Wednesday against Norfolk State. WSU is led in scoring by Vaughn Duggins and Corey Cooperwood each scoring just over 11 points per game. WSU ranks 74th in the nation in scoring defense holding opponents to 61.9 points per game. They are 86th in steals per game with 8.0 per game and 33rd in turnover margin at 4.2. MSU and WSU have met one time, a 1990 WSU win at home by a 79-76 score.
GETTING TO THE LINE:
Through eight games, the Racers are having a big season at the free throw line. MSU has made 143-of-177 for an 80.8 percentage and good for a third place national ranking. When the first NCAA statistics report came out Dec. 1, the Racers were second in the nation at just over 84 percent.

Jeffery McClain is 43rd in the nation making 87.2 percent (34-of-39). MSU has five players hitting above 80 percent from the line including McClain. Matt Fraliex (84.6), Kevin Thomas (83.3), Isacc Miles (82.4) and Tony Easley (81.3) are all having excellent seasons at the line.

Here are the top-10 free throw percentage teams in the NCAA D-I.

Rank	Team	Rec.	FTM	FTA	Pct.
1.	Green Bay	6-3	165	194	.851
2.	UC Davis	3-6	130	159	.818
3.	Murray State	5-3	143	177	.808
4.	Ill.-Chicago	6-2	119	148	.804
5.	Coppin State	1-6	97	122	.795
6.	Maryland	7-2	144	182	.791
7.	Michigan	7-2	117	148	.791
8.	Drake	11-3	173	223	.776
9.	Loyola (Md.)	3-7	131	169	.775
10.	Mississippi	6-3	156	202	.772

The MSU single season percentage record is held by Jimmy Young (1969-70) and Marcus Brown (1994-95) of 89.6 percent. It is early, but the Racers are well ahead of the MSU team mark of 76.9 set in the 1994-95 season.

QUICK SHOTS: Here is a look at the Racers recently. Isacc Miles: Scoring 12.4 in the last five games and hitting .870 20-23 from the free throw line. Has three straight games scoring in double-figures and has played more than 30 minutes in each of the last three games. Jeffery McClain: Averaging 10.6 in the last five games and 7.6 rebounds. Danero Thomas: He has 11 steals in the last five games and is scoring 10.4 points per game. Ivan Aska: Has hit 18-36 .500 from the field recently and is averaging 8.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds in the last five. Tyler Holloway: Is nine three-pointers from tying Chris Shumate (1999-04) for sixth place on the MSU all-time list. Holloway is 9-21 .429 from long range in the last five games. Tony Easley: Hitting .667 14-21 from the field in the last five games. Leads MSU with 13 offensive rebounds during the same period. Donte Poole: Ended a planned redshirt season last Saturday at Missouri when he played 12 minutes and scored six points. Matt Fraliex: Scoring 4.4 points per game in the last five and is 6-12 .500 from three-point range. Kevin Thomas: Has 21 assists in the last five games and 10 steals.

LAST TIME IN TROPICS: The Racers last played in Puerto Rico in 1997 in the P.R. Holiday Classic. The tournament was a memorable part of a great season in which MSU went 29-4, was 15-0 at home, won the OVC regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Rhode Island in the first round.

In 1997, the Racers got run over by Michigan in the first round 76-53, but came back on Christmas day to upset Arkansas 94-83 getting 42 points from DT Mayes. The Racers finished off the event with an 84-76 win over Iowa State.

KENNEDY VS FIELD:
MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy has never faced USF, ORU, or WSU in his career. His game against the Bulls will be his 300th career game as a head coach that is in its 11th season.

NEUTRAL GAMES:
The Racers are looking for their first win on a neutral floor in the Billy Kennedy era. In 2006, the Racers played San Diego State and Seattle-Pacific in Moraga, Calif. in the St. Mary's tournament and lost both. Incidentally, the games were the first for Kennedy as MSU head coach and the San Diego State game was lost on a half-court buzzer shot. Last season the Racers lost neutral site games to Belmont and Tennessee State. The loss to Belmont came at the Chattanooga Dr. Pepper Classic and the loss to TSU was in Nashville in the semi-finals of the OVC Tournament.

CAREER NUMBERS:
Tyler Holloway has a good chance of becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 867 points and is 133 points from the magic number. Danero Thomas is more than half way to 1,000 now with 610. Kevin Thomas has 173 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 six of their eight games this season. MSU is 5-1 this season when they win this category and 0-2 when they don't. In the Billy Kennedy era, MSU is 24-12 when winning the rebound battle.

AFTER SAN JUAN:
MSU plays Niagara at the Chattanooga Dr. Pepper Classic Dec. 29. On Jan. 5, the Racers pick play in the OVC again when they visit UT Martin. The Racers return home Jan. 8 to face Tennessee State.

Murray State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos