Murray State
Tennessee Wesleyan
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MSU Sets Steals Record In 108-49 Win Over Tenn. Wesleyan
11/29/2009 4:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers won their fifth straight game in a 108-49 home victory over Tennessee Wesleyan Saturday at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers also set a program record with 25 steals (breaking the former mark of 23 against Colorado Springs in 2001) and they topped the 100-point mark for the first time since 2003 against Chicago State.
The Racers got another strong start from Tony Easley who had seven points and five rebounds only minutes into the contest as MSU quickly built a 24-9 lead with 13:05 before half.
MSU opened up a 20-point lead at the 3:22 mark on a basket by Jeffery McClain, and moments later led 42-26 on an A.J. Wilson break-away dunk.
MSU's 52-30 lead at half marked their highest score of the season.
The Racers started the second half on a 12-4 run to push in front 64-34 with 16:37 remaining.
MSU placed six players in double-figure scoring led by Donte Poole's career-high 16, with 15 from Ivan Aska, while Easley tossed in 13. MSU got 12 from Isaiah Canaan, 11 from Isacc Miles and 10 by B.J. Jenkins.
Easley made it a double-double with 10 rebounds.
"Right now we're just executing the game plan, playing hard and trying to do what our coaches ask of us," said senior Tony Easley.
"I agree," said sophomore Donte Poole. "We get very good scouting reports from our coaches and our motivation has been to play good defense for 40 minutes."
"It was good to get back on our home floor and play again," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "You never know about these kinds of games, our guys were ready to go and we played well."
"That's why this game was positioned where it was," Kennedy added. "We wanted to get in a home game before we begin conference play."
The Racers' next contest is their Ohio Valley Conference opener.
Thursday, the Racers host Eastern Kentucky in an early 6 p.m. tip at the RSEC in a game that will be aired by ESPNU.
MSU stays at home Saturday to host Morehead State in a 7:30 p.m. game.
GAME NOTES
MSU has now won six straight games and 14-2 in the last two seasons at the RSEC. MSU is 40-10 (.800) all-time in the building in non-league games and 133-25 (.841) overall.
The Racers set the program record of 25 steals and no one had more than five, those coming by B.J. Jenkins. It's the second time this season a Racer player has recorded five in a game. MSU had 11 different players make a steal in the game.
MSU also had 12 different players make the scoring column.
The Racers 59-point winning margin is the second-best in the 12 seasons of games in the RSEC. The 65-point win over Colorado Springs in 2004 is still the top mark.
MSU's 108 points came close to the single-game RSEC record of 114 against Tennessee State in 2001.
B.J. Jenkins' five steals was one off the RSEC mark of six set by Trey Pearson (in 2005 and 2006 against EIU and Missouri), Chris Shumate (2004 against EKU) and Adam Chiles (2003 vs SIUE).
MSU's five-game winning streak is closing on the last long streak they had in 2008 when they won eight straight.
MSU also had a game last season at home against Tennessee State when they had six players make double-figure scoring.
Danero Thomas continues his trek toward becoming the 35th member of the MSU 1000-Point Club. His six points means he has 979.
The Racers made it to 80 points for the fourth time in six games this season. MSU is 20-4 in the Billy Kennedy era when scoring 80 or more. MSU held another opponent under 60 points and are 28-5 under Coach Kennedy when holding a team to 60 or less.
Tony Easley had three blocks and now has 77 in his MSU career. He's moving up the ladder soon to reach MSU's No. 10 all-time, Popeye Jones who had 87 from 1988-92.
MSU's home game with Chattanooga Dec. 19 has been moved to a 2 p.m. start.
