Murray State University Athletics
MSU Carries Four-Game Win Streak - Hosts TWC
11/27/2009 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 6
Tennessee Wesleyan
at
Murray State
Saturday 7 p.m. CST
RSEC
Murray, Ky.
The Murray State Racers return home to the Regional Special Events Center for a 7 p.m. game Saturday against the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan. The Racers carry a four-game winning streak home with them after winning all three of their games last weekend in the Coaches vs Cancer Classic in Miami, Fla., where they posted double-digit wins over James Madison, North Carolina Central and FIU. The Racers are now 4-1 since they dropped their season opener at No. 12 California, while TWC is 2-3. This is MSU's second home game of the season after beating Missouri-St. Louis Nov. 14.
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THOMAS STALKS 1000: Senior forward Danero Thomas is closing on becoming the 35th member of the MSU 1,000-Point Club and starts the TWC game needing 27 points to reach the magic mark. His 49 double-figure scoring games in Thomas' career have helped him along. He has also been a durable player for MSU with appearances in 95 games including 69 starts. He was named to the All-OVC Preseason Team and the All-OVC Second Team as a junior and last week was named to the Coaches vs Cancer Classic Team for the Miami regional.
RSEC-HOME SWEET HOME: The Racers enter the TWC game with a five-game home winning streak after taking the opener vs UMSL Nov. 14 by a 92-54 score. MSU is 35-9 at home in the Billy Kennedy era. One amazing note to the Racers' record in the RSEC is that they have lost back-to-back games only four times in 11 years and have never lost three straight in the building. The last time MSU lost three straight games at home was in old Racer Arena in the 1986-87 season.
OVC SHOWDOWN COMING: With an early pair of Ohio Valley Conference games coming Thursday and Saturday (Dec. 3 and 5) against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State, the Racers want to keep their momentum going. The Racers and Morehead State are co-favorites to win the OVC. Each received 10 first-place votes and shared first place in the preseason poll in the balloting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The MSU-EKU game will be aired by ESPNU.
MSU'S BREAD AND BUTTER: If there is one thing you can expect from the Racers, it's hard-nosed intense defense. In MSU's win over UMSL (Nov. 14), they had 18 steals to mark the best at MSU under coach Billy Kennedy. Twice before MSU had 16 steals in a game: vs Avila (11-23-07) and against Missouri (12-13-08). Kennedy's MSU teams have now turned in double-digit steals in 20 times with 12 of them in league games. MSU's team record of 23 steals came against Colorado Springs in 2001.
EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES: The Racers are just a few ticks from having 10 players averaging 10 minutes of playing time per game.
MAGIC NUMBER 80 & 60: The Racers are 3-0 this season when they score 80 points or more and 19-4 in the Billy Kennedy era. When MSU holds opponents to 60 points or less, they're 2-0 this season and 27-5 with Coach Kennedy.
CANAAN HOT FT SHOOTING: Freshman Isaiah Canaan is off to a good start in all parts of his game, but is shooting very good from the free throw line particular. So far, he is 19-of-21 (.905) and ranks.
MAKIN' SHOTS: Through five games, Ivan Aska is making shots at a very high percentage. He is 28-of-39 (.718). When the NCAA national rankings come out soon, he'll no doubt rank very high. Aska is third in the OVC, but has more attempts than anyone in the top-6.
TOPS IN THE OVC: Through five games, the Racers are the best in the league in scoring (80.2) and scoring defense (60.8). MSU's scoring margin average of +19.4 is also tops in the OVC. And it's no surprise the Racers are again the best in the league in field goal defense and three-point defense. MSU is holding teams to (.357) from the field and (.287) from three-point range. MSU is also the best in blocked shots and steals.
COMPARING NUMBERS: The Racers have improved in field goal and three-point percentage over what they were last season through five games. MSU is shooting .518 from the field compared to .461 last season and their three-point success if up to .361 from .352. The Racers free throw shooting percentage is down to .681 from .847.
