MSU Beats UMSL For 20th Straight Win In Home Openers

Saturday, November 14

Murray, Ky.

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

Missouri-St. Louis

11/15/2009 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

The Murray State Racers posted their 20^th straight home opening win in a 92-54 victory over Missouri-St. Louis Saturday at the Regional Special Events Center.

The Racers evened their season record at 1-1.

MSU broke the game open with 5:17 remaining in the first half when they already had a 27-20 lead.

MSU got a three and two-point basket from Isacc Miles, followed by a 10-0 spurt in the half's final 1:40.

Donte Poole scored on a fast break, and after Ivan Aska hit a free throw, Danero Thomas scored on a steal for a 44-24 Racer lead with 38 seconds left. The Racers ended the half on a 22-4 run when Isaiah Canaan made a steal and hit a three-pointer and immediately stole the inbounds pass and added two free throws after he was fouled.

The Racers' lead was 49-24 at the half.

MSU stretched their lead to 32 points with 15:35 remaining on a three by B.J. Jenkins and UMSL never got closer than 28 the rest of the way.

Ivan Aska led four MSU players in double-figures with 20 on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting effort.

"I didn't know I was nine for nine," Aska said when he was informed after the game that he didn't miss a shot. "I am just going out and playing. I am trying to correct the things I was doing last season."

Isaiah Canaan added 17 for MSU, with 11 coming from Danero Thomas and 10 from Tony Easley.

"We had the opportunity to play a lot of guys tonight and Ivan was good," Racer head coach Billy Kennedy said. "But we've got to take better care of the ball and make some more free throws to be a more complete team."

Jeffery McClain led the way for MSU with nine rebounds.

The Racers are off until hitting the road next week for the continuation of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic with three games in Miami, Fla. MSU will play James Madison (Nov. 20), North Carolina Central (Nov. 22) and host Florida International (Nov. 23).

"It will be a good test playing three games in four days," Kennedy said. "We're about as ready as we can be. We've got depth and we'll have to use it in Miami. We'll be able to learn a lot about our team down there."

GAME NOTES

MSU's win in their 2009-10 home opener is their 20^th straight dating back to their last loss to SIU in 1989 in triple overtime at old Racer Arena. The Racers have never lost a home opener in the RSEC and are 12-0.

MSU continues its winning ways at the RSEC with their fifth straight win. MSU has a 39-10 (.795) record against non-league opponents and is 132-25 (.840) overall.

Danero Thomas continued his approach to joining the MSU 1000-Point Club. He scored 11 tonight and is 65 points from the magic mark. Thomas didn't start the game tonight breaking a streak of 64 straight.

The Racers had 18 steals against UMSL for the high water mark in the Billy Kennedy era, besting the 16 they had on two occasions: against Avila (Nov. 23, 2007) and Missouri (Dec. 13, 2008). MSU's team record is 23 against Colorado Springs at the RSEC in 2001. MSU has 17 games of double-figure steals under Kennedy with 12 of them against OVC teams.

MSU's 92 points tonight is the fifth time in the Kennedy era that the Racers have hit the 90-point mark. The top scoring game for MSU was 98 points against UT Martin (Mar. 1, 2008). The last time MSU hit the 100-point mark came against Chicago State (Dec. 13, 2003). In case you're wondering, MSU hasn't given up 100 points since playing UAB did it Jan. 2, 2005.