Murray State University Athletics
MSU Faces BracketBuster Challenge Against Indiana State
2/21/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Indiana State
(13-13) (8-8 MVC)
at
Murray State
(16-10) (12-6 OVC)
Sat. 6 p.m.
RSEC
Murray, Ky.
ESPNU BracketBusters
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The Murray State Racers host the Indiana State Sycamores at the Regional Special Events Saturday at 6 p.m. in the 2008 ESPNU BracketBusters Series. The game marks the fourth time the Racers (3-0) have participated in the event. MSU has wins over Rice (2005), Illinois-Chicago (2006), and Rider (2007). The Racers are 16-10 overall and 12-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference and finish the regular season next week with games at Tennessee Tech and home against UT-Martin.
MSU's last time out was a week ago when they defeated Eastern Illinois at the RSEC 67-56 to push their home winning streak to nine-straight games. Bruce Carter paced the Racers with 22 points. The Panthers got as close as eight points in the second half, but never got any closer.
Indiana State enters the contest fresh off an impressive overtime win Wednesday 83-73 over Wichita State in a contest that saw the Sycamores trail by as many as 21 points. ISU is 13-13 overall and 8-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. They have put together a 12-1 mark at home, but are 1-12 away from their home court, the Hullman Center. Marico Stinson scores 12.8 points per game, while Gabe Moore scores 12.3 per game. ISU comes to Murray State with a three-game winning streak and also has wins over Southern Illinois, Creighton and Illinois State.
The Racers trail the all-time series with Indiana State 6-2, but won their last meeting in 2002 by a 85-39 count at the RSEC in 2002.
The Racers will be trying to extend their home winning streak at the RSEC to nine straight when the Panthers come to town. MSU is 11-1 at home this season with the only loss coming Dec. 5 against Eastern Kentucky. The Racers have won eight straight non-conference games at home dating back to their loss to Southern Illinois on Dec. 28, 2005. Billy Kennedy is 6-0.
Bruce Carter will finish his career at Murray State ranked among the best players that had two-year runs with the Racers. Currently, Carter's 717 career points ranks him 8th all-time and his 302 rebounds places him in seventh place. He is also close to cracking the top-10 in assists. Carter enters the ISU game with 16 straight double-figure scoring games, he is scoring 16.7 points per game during this period.
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Sycamores lead 6-2
@ Murray: Tied 2-2
@ Terre Haute: Sycamores lead 2-0
Neutral: None
First Meeting: 1945 MSU won 54-45 in Murray, Ky.
Last Meeting: 2002 MSU won 85-39
Trend: MSU is 3-0 in the Bracket- Busters series with wins over Rice (2005), Illinois-Chicago (2006), and Rider (2007).
Billy Kennedy vs ISU: 0-0
Kevin McKenna vs MUR: 0-0
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: Froggy 103.7 FM
Neal Bradley & Josh Perigo
Internet: GoRacers.com FREE live audio
OVCsports.tv PAY live video
GAME NOTES
BRACKETBUSTERS DAY:
For the third straight year, all 11 OVC teams will compete in the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series in February (22-23). The event began in 2003 and has had OVC teams compete in it during each of the past four years. Austin Peay has competed in the most events (4), while Murray State (3-0) and UT Martin (2-0) have the best record in the event. Below is a complete history of OVC teams in the event.ALL-TIME OVC RECORDS/FACTS
All-Time Home: 5-6
All-Time Road: 4-10
Most Appearances: Austin Peay (4)
Best Record: Murray State (3-0)
Undefeated Teams: Murray State (3-0), UT Martin (2-0)
2003
2004
Austin Peay at Wichita State L, 62-47
2005
Austin Peay at East Tenn. State L, 85-81
Murray State at Rice W, 69-63
2006
Arkansas State at Austin Peay W, 92-71
Eastern Mich. at Eastern Illinois L, 65-50
UNC Asheville at Eastern Ky. L, 83-77
New Orleans at Jax State W, 79-74
Morehead at Central Michigan L, 87-76
Illinois-Chicago at Murray State W, 72-68
Samford at Ohio L, 64-52
SE Missouri at UC Riverside L, 69-61
Tennessee State at Ball State W, 70-69
Tennessee Tech at Bradley L, 77-62
Tennessee-Martin at Evansville W, 69-62
2007
Austin Peay at Akron L, 74-57
Eastern Ill. at Loyola (Chicago) L, 66-43
Eastern Ky. at Youngstown State L, 66-61
Jax State at Chattanooga L, 75-64
Bowling Green at Morehead L, 90-72
Murray State at Rider W, 58-51
Evansville at Samford L, 69-65
Louisiana Tech at SE Missouri L, 72-56
Loyola (Md.) at Tenn. State L, 62-60
Northwestern St. at TTU W, 85-84 (OT)
Saint Peter's at UT Martin W, 59-58
2008
Georgia Southern at Austin Peay
Evansville at Eastern Illinois
Ball State at Eastern Kentucky
Georgia State at Jacksonville State
Indiana State at Murray State
Morehead State at James Madison
Samford at Louisiana Tech
Southeast Missouri at Eastern Michigan
Tenn. State at Northern Ill. (cancelled)
Tennessee Tech at East Tennessee State
UT Martin at Elon
LOOKING FOR 20:
The Racers are within shouting distance of another 20-win campaign. MSU has won 20 or more in 11 of the last 19 seasons. Billy Kennedy has two his previous nine seasons as a head coach. He's had five in 22 seasons in college basketball.CAREER NUMBERS:
Tyler Holloway is one his way to becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 795 points in 86 career games.Danero Thomas is only 54 games into his MSU career but has already scored 454 points. He'll be half way to 1,000 before the season is over.
Marvin Williams grabbed his 100th career rebound Dec. 20 at Samford and only five from 200.
Bruce Carter zoomed past the 600 career milestone against SEMO on Jan. 26. and surpassed 700 against Eastern Illinois Feb. 14.
Ray George passed 250 points in his career Jan. 15 against Indiana South Bend. On Feb. 2 against Jacksonville State he passed 100 career assists.
Kevin Thomas passed 100 career assists in the Feb. 9 game at Morehead State.
RANKING THE FIELD:
The Rating Percentage Index (RPI) is one of the formulas used by the NCAA in rate college basketball. There are currently 341 teams in NCAA D-I. The rankings do not count wins or losses against non-D-I teams. As of Feb. 20.RANK TEAM REC
48 Western Kentucky 19-5
101 Belmont 18-8
118 Indiana State 12-13
132 Rider 18-9
138 Chattanooga 14-11
121 Austin Peay 18-10
175 Murray State 14-10
213 Morehead State 11-12
225 UT-Martin 13-14
229 Eastern Kentucky 11-12
263 Tennessee State 10-15
266 Samford 10-14
279 SE Missouri State 10-16
292 Tennessee Tech 10-17
293 Arkansas State 7-17
337 Eastern Illinois 4-21
338 Jacksonville State 4-20
Here is how the Racers' home record compares in the OVC since the 2003-04 season.
Team 07-08 Since 03-04 Pct.
Murray State 12-1 59-12 .830
Austin Peay 11-1 54-11 .830
Tennessee Tech 6-6 54-14 .794
Eastern KY 8-4 48-17 .738
Samford 7-7 45-20 .692
Tennessee St. 6-5 36-24 .600
Morehead St. 10-1 38-26 .593
Jacksonville St. 6-8 40-28 .588
SE Missouri St. 7-4 35-29 .546
UT-Martin 7-6 33-28 .540
Eastern Illinois 3-7 26-35 .426
