Murray State University Athletics
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MSU Takes To The Road For Big OVC Weekend
2/5/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers hit the road for what has been known for years as the "Death Valley" trip. The first stop on the tour is in Richmond for a Thursday 8 p.m. CST tip with the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The game will be aired on ESPNU. The Racers are coming off a 95-85 win last Saturday at home against Jacksonville State. The game was played at broken pace when 57 total fouls were called leading to 76 combined free throws. Junior guard Kevin Thomas scored a career-high 23 points in the MSU win, while sophomore forward Marvin Williams had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The win was a nice rebound from the Racers' overtime loss at Austin Peay Jan. 31. MSU is 10-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, one game behind the first place Governors.
It's no coincidence when the Racers protect and share the basketball, their chances of winning are better. In Murray State's 14 OVC games, they've had a positive assist-turnover ratio in all 10 wins, and a negative ratio in all four losses. The Racers continue to lead the league in what might be called a "Grand Slam" of statistics. MSU ranks first in field goal percentage (.499), field goal defense (.422), three-point percentage (.417), and three-point defense (.326). Murray State is also one of the best teams from the free throw line where they're ranked second in the OVC with a rate of nearly 75 percent.
The Racers are 10-4 in the OVC and all four of their losses have been very close games. Two of the losses were in overtime: Jan. 3, MSU dropped an 82-80 game at Eastern Illinois, and again Jan. 31 at Austin Peay 92-87. In December, MSU had a late lead slip away in a 59-58 loss to Eastern Kentucky. The most hurtful loss came Dec. 20 when Samford hit a three-pointer for a 65-64 win in a game that was controversial because the clock never started on the final play. MSU's four losses have come by a total of 10 points.
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GAME NOTES
CAREER NUMBERS:
Tyler Holloway is one his way to becoming the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point club. He has 762 points in 82 career games. He will play a a minimum of eight games yet this season and another 29 when he is a senior in 2008-09, giving him an excellent chance to make it.Danero Thomas is only 50 games into his MSU career but has already scored 421 points.
Marvin Williams grabbed his 100th career rebound Dec. 20 at Samford and is on pace to get to 200 before the season is out.
Bruce Carter zoomed past the 600 career milestone against SEMO on Jan. 26. and now has 649 career points in only 52 career games.
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.
SENIOR MOMENTS:
MSU senior BRuce Carter enters the EKU game with 12 straight double-figure scoring games. During this time he is scoring 16.6 points per game and getting 7.1 rebounds. Carter is shooting .483 from the field, .327 from three-point land, and .800 from the free throw line. He's also totalled 27 assists.BRACKETBUSTER EVENT:
MSU learned of their BracketBuster opponent this week when they wer paired with the Indiana State Sycamores. MSU will host ISU Feb. 23 at the Regional Special Events Center in a 6 p.m. game. The Racers are 3-0 in the BracketBusters series with wins over Rice (2005), Illinois-Chicago (2006), and Rider (2007). 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. 4.RANK TEAM REC
62 Western Kentucky 16-5
100 Chattanooga 12-8
105 Rider 17-6
117 Indiana State 9-11
123 Austin Peay 15-9
125 Belmont 14-8
171 Murray State 12-8
208 Morehead State 9-10
221 Eastern Kentucky 9-10
245 UT-Martin 9-14
258 SE Missouri State 10-12
267 Tennessee State 8-13
272 Samford 9-12
274 Arkansas State 7-12
296 Tennessee Tech 8-15
337 Eastern Illinois 3-18
341 Jacksonville State 2-19
Here is how the Racers compare with the rest of the teams in the OVC
in home games since the 2003-04 season.
Team 07-08 Since 03-04 Pct.
Murray State 11-1 58-12 .828
Austin Peay 9-1 52-11 .825
Tennessee Tech 5-5 53-13 .803
Eastern KY 6-4 46-17 .730
Samford 6-6 44-19 .698
Tennessee St. 4-4 34-23 .596
Morehead St. 9-0 37-25 .596
Jacksonville St. 4-9 38-29 .567
SE Missouri St. 7-2 35-27 .564
UT-Martin 4-6 30-28 .517
Eastern Illinois 3-6 26-34 .433
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: Racers lead 87-58
@ Murray: Racers lead 48-21
@ Richmond: Colonels lead 33-32
Neutral: Racers lead 7-4
OVC Tourney: Racers lead 7-4
First Meeting: 1934 MSU won 37-27
Last Meeting: Dec. 5 EKU won 59-58
Trend: Colonels have won the last three games by a
total of nine points. Last game at EKU won in overtime 72-66
Billy Kennedy vs EKU: 0-3
Jeff Neubauer vs MUR: 3-2
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: ESPNU 8 p.m. CST Dave Weekley & Jim Chones
Radio: Froggy 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Josh Perigo
Internet: GoRacers.com FREE live audio and OVCsports.tv PAY live video
