Murray State University Athletics
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The Season Begins - Racers Host Bethel In Exhibition
11/5/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bethel
at
Murray State
EXHIBITION
Thursday 7 p.m.
RSEC
The 85th season of Murray State Basketball is finally here Thursday when the Racers host the Bethel Wildcats in an exhibition game set for 7 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center. The game is also the first action for the Wildcats. While this game will not count in the win-loss column for either team, it is worth noting that the series between Murray State and Bethel started with a pair of games in 1926. The two have played 19 times with the Racers winning 13 of them. Bethel's wins were one each in 1927-29. The two haven't played a regular season game since a 1987 MSU win at home.
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HOME SWEET HOME
The Racers went 12-2 at home in the Regional Special Events Center in the 2008-09 season and are 34-9 there in the Billy Kennedy era. MSU will begin 2009-2010 with a four-game home winning streak. One amazing note to the Racers' record in the RSEC is that they have only 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. MSU's all-time mark at the RSEC in 11 seasons 131-25 (.839) including an OVC mark of 93-15 (.861) and a Non-Conference mark of 38-10 (.791).
RACER IN CALIFORNIA MONDAY
MSU's season opener is Monday at California-Berkeley in a 10 p.m. central time tip on ESPNU. The Bears, who have been picked to win the Pac-10 title for only the second time in program history, are hosting Chico State Thursday night in an exhibition game. The Bears and Racers have never met before. MSU coach Billy Kennedy was an assistant coach at Cal at the last time the Bears were the favorites in 1993 when they had the likes of Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray on the team. Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle return this season for the bears to form one of the best back-court tandems in the game. Both have been added to the Naismith Preseason Watch List.
MSU assistant coach Amir Abdur-Rahim's brother Shareef played at Cal and is a 12-year veteran of the NBA and is now as assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
Former Murray State coach Mark Gottfried (1995-98) will be making his debut as a color analyst for ESPNU.
