Men Take 2nd Seed In OVC Tourney With 98-59 Win Over UTM

Saturday, March 1

Murray, Ky.

7:30 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee-Martin

Men Take 2nd Seed In OVC Tourney With 98-59 Win Over UTM

3/2/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

The Murray State Racers got a much-needed boost Saturday when they took down the hottest team in the Ohio Valley Conference UT-Martin by a 98-59 score and snapped the Skyhawks six-game winning streak. The victory for MSU secured the second seed in Tuesday's conference tournament, and they handed UTM its most lopsided defeat in 35 all-time meetings with the Racers.

The Racers started hot, controlled the game most of the night and finished it off with an impressive 24-4 run to put the game away in the second half.

"I thought we would break out and play a 40 minute game at some point, and tonight we did,” MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy said. “You want your seniors to play well at the end of the year, and tonight both of our seniors did that.”

Indeed, it was a nice moment for seniors Bruce Carter and Ray George to walk to center court before the game and receive a warm welcome from the 4,047 at the Regional Special Events Center.

Carter ended the night with 22 points, while George added 10 and locked down the nation's fourth leading scorer, UTM's Lester Hudson. George blocked Hudson's shot three times in the game and held him to 18 points, which were below his 25.7 average.

The Racers staked out a 20-9 lead at the 10:51 mark. Carter hit back-to-back three-pointers during the Racers' start.

MSU held Hudson, in check by keeping him from the scoring column until he hit a lay up at the 13:45 mark of the half.

The half ended with Kevin Thomas hitting a drive with 1:40 left, but Hudson scored after a steal with 1:10 left for the final points of the first period with MSU in front 39-28.

Hudson had eight points at the half, but hit three baskets at the start of the second half to get UTM to seven points with 16:14 left at 46-39.

Tyler Holloway hit his first three-pointer of the game with 15:25 left to push MSU ahead 51-39.

The Racers put it into another gear moments later when Carter hit back to back three-pointers and a shot in the lane, followed by a Marvin Williams put-back and a three-point play by Kevin Thomas.

Danero Thomas scored another old-fashion three-point play at the 11:21 mark, Holloway followed with another three-pointer, and the Racers had a 67-43 advantage.

MSU's run after UTM cut the lead to seven was 24-4.

Carter led the way for MSU with 22 points, with five other Racers making double-figures: Kevin Thomas (16), Danero Thomas (11), Tyler Holloway (11), Tony Easley (10), and Ray George (10)

MSU won the battle of the boards with UTM 47-23.

The Racers' 21 assists was the fourth time this season they've had more than 20 in a game.

Before the game was over, the other finals in the OVC made the pairings for the league tournament complete with the Racers getting the second seed and a home game with the seventh seed Tennessee Tech. The Tuesday quarterfinal game is at the RSEC at 7:30 p.m.

The Racers split with the Golden Eagles with a home win (81-67 on Jan. 24) and a road loss last week (71-66 on Feb. 28).

Kennedy broke out one of his Southland Conference championship rings from his days at Southeastern Louisiana for the game because he wanted to remind himself and his players what is at stake now that the regular season is over.

“At Murray State, we expect championships, and now it's time to get one,” Kennedy said. “We fell a couple games short of the regular season championship, and we had some close games. I'm happy that we have improved over last year, even if it is only one game. We have improved as a team, as a program, and now it's time to improve in the tournament."

What kind of effort can one expect from MSU in the first round of the OVC bash?

“If you can't play hard for 40 minutes on Tuesday, you shouldn't be playing in that type of game,” Kennedy said.

GAME NOTES

The Racers handed the Skyhawks its most lopsided defeat in 35 all-time games with the Racers of 39 points (98-59). The previous largest margin for the Racers was 32 points (107-75) in 1995.

MSU just missed getting to the 100-point mark for the first time since they did it in 2003 against Chicago State.

When Kevin Thomas scored 10 points to lead the Racers at the half, it was two more than he had scored over the previous four games.

MSU's 17th win of the season means Billy Kennedy has one more win in his second season than he had in his first, and the Racers still have a chance to reach 20 wins if they can win the OVC Tournament.

MSU is now 33-2 all-time against the Skyhawks and 18-0 when playing them at home.

After a grueling 20-game schedule of home-and-home battles, the regular season is over and the OVC Tournament begins Tuesday. The Racers have never failed to host a game in the quarterfinals in the 12 years the league has been staging games on campus sites in the quarterfinals. When the tournament begins, the Racers gain their 19th appearance in the semi-finals with a win. They'll ultimately be trying to get to their 16th championship game in the last 21 tries dating back to 1988.

The Racers are 7-0 all-time against Tech in the OVC Tournament.

Here is the schedule for the OVC Tournament.

First Round - Tuesday, March 4 (campus sites)

#1 Austin Peay vs. #8 Eastern Kentucky, 7:00 p.m. CT

#2 Murray State vs. #7 Tennessee Tech, 7:30 p.m. CT

#3 Morehead State vs. #6 Tennessee State, 6:00 p.m. CT

#4 UT Martin vs. #5 Samford, 7:00 p.m. CT

Semifinals - Friday, March 7 (Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, Tenn.)
5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. CT ESPNU

Final - Saturday, March 8 (Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, Tenn.)

4:00 p.m. CT ESPN2