MSU Takes On Niagara In Chattanooga

Game 12
Murray State
(6-5)
vs
Niagara
(9-2)
Dr. Pepper Classic
Monday 5 p.m. CST
Chattanooga, Tenn.
McKenzie Arena

SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: First Meeting
@ Murray: None
@ Columbia: None
Neutral: None
Billy Kennedy vs NU: First Meeting

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: None
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

CATCH UP: After a quick break for Christmas, the Murray State Racers hit the road again for a Dec. 29th game against the Purple Eagles of Niagara University. The game is part of UT Chattanooga's Dr. Pepper Classic and will be played at 5 p.m. central time at McKenzie Arena. MSU is playing in their seventh straight game, all of their December schedule, away from home. The Racers enter the contest 6-5 after a 1-2 trip last week to the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico. MSU started the event with a 73-64 loss to South Florida Dec. 20, but rebounded Dec. 21 to score a thrilling 78-76 win over Oral Roberts. The Racers ended their San Juan experience Dec. 22 falling to the champion of the event, Wright State by a 57-41 score. Danero Thomas led the Racers in scoring each game with 16 points twice and 13 against WSU. He was named to the San Juan Shootout All-Tournament Team. Kevin Thomas turned in nine assists in the ORU game which was one off his career high.

SCOUTING REPORT: Niagara enters the game with a 9-2 mark having won four straight and eight of their last nine. The Purple Eagles defeated St. Bonaventure 83-65 on the road Dec. 23 and scored wins over Drexel (67-62), South Florida (70-55), and Loyola (91-75) before that. NU is led in scoring by Tyrone Lewis at 17 points per game, while Bilal Benn (13.2), Rob Garrison (11.8), and Benson Egemonye (11.1) are all scoring in double-figures. Niagara's only two losses came at Villanova (77-62) on Nov. 19 and at home against Akron (63-59) on Dec. 3. The Racers have never played Niagara, although they did play Rider a fellow member of the Metro Atlantic Conference in each of the last two seasons.

OVC BATTLES ARE COMING: Murray State is set to return to games in the Ohio Valley Conference Jan. 5 when they pay a visit to UT Martin. The first week of the new year will be a busy one for the Racers with three OVC games. After playing at UTM, the Racers mark their first home game since Nov. 29 when they host Tennessee State Jan. 8 at the Regional Special Events Center. The Racers host Austin Peay on ESPNU Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. MSU is 1-1 in the OVC after splitting two early December games with a 58-50 win at Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 4 and a 79-74 loss at Morehead State on Dec. 6. MSU was the preseason pick to win the league after posting back-to-back second place finishes.

SHOOTING SURPRISE:
The Racers want to get back to their usual good shooting ways after struggling to find the net in San Juan. In three games, MSU shot 38 percent (60-of-158) from the field and 13 percent (5-of-38) from three-point range. MSU is still ranked fifth in the nation in free throw shooting, but managed a 67 percent (58-of-86) clip in Puerto Rico.

GETTING TO THE LINE:
Through 11 games, the Racers are having a big season at the free throw line. MSU has made 201-of263 for a 76.4 percentage and good for a fifth 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 42nd in the nation making 81.6 percent (40-of-49). MSU has eight players hitting above 71 percent. Three are above 80 percent including McClain, Tyler Holloway (87.5) andMatt Fraliex (84.6).

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

Rank	Team	Made	Attempted	Pct.
1.	Green Bay	191	232	82.3
2.	Michigan	133	165	80.6
3.	UC Davis	199	248	80.2
4.	S. Utah	186	233	79.8
5.	Murray State	186	235	79.1
6.	Maryland	144	182	79.0
7.	Coppin State	98	124	79.0
8.	Loyola (Md.)	183	233	78.5
9.	Illinois-Chicago	140	179	78.2
10.	Drake	196	252	77.8

It is early, but the Racers are flirting with the MSU team mark of 76.9 set in the 1994-95 season.
CAREER NUMBERS:
Tyler Holloway has a good chance of becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 890 points and is 110 points from the magic number.

Holloway has 164 career three-pointers and is close to catching sixth place Chris Shumate (99-04) at 170 on the MSU all-time list.

Danero Thomas is on his way to the 1,000 mark now with 655 as a junior.

Kevin Thomas has 187 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 31-8 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 37-9 in the last three seasons.

DEFENDING THE MAN:
Here is how the Racers have defending the opponent's leading scorer this season.

Opponent	Top Scorer	Avg.	Points vs MSU
Lyon College	Michael Thoresch	14.0	3
Arkansas State	Donald Boone	15.0	16
Western Kentucky	Jeremy Evans	12.0	4
Indiana State	Rashad Reed	12.0	8
St. Catharine	Victor Garcia	21.3	27
Eastern Kentucky	Mike Rose	20.2	2
Morehead State	Leon Buchanan	12.9	6
Missouri	Leo Lyons	16.7	14
South Florida	Jesus Verdejo	17.0	9
Oral Roberts	Robert Jarvis	19.7	15
Wright State	Cory Cooperwood	11.3	4

Murray State University Athletics

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