Murray State University Athletics
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Racers go West For Season Opener with California
11/9/2009 6:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murray State
at
(12) California
Monday 10 p.m. CST
Haas Pavilion
Berkeley, Calif.
The Murray State Racers begin their 85th season of basketball Monday with the opener against the 12th ranked California Bears at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. The Thursday 10 p.m. cst meeting is the first between the two schools and it finds both teams the favorites to win their respective leagues. The Racers were voted co-favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference with Morehead State and the Bears are the favorite to win the Pac-10.
The game will have several players that are among the best in their leagues. The Racers had three selections to the All-OVC Preseason Team: guard Isacc Miles and forwards Danero Thomas and Ivan Aska. The trio were also All-OVC picks last season with Aska earning OVC Freshman of the Year honors. Cal juniors Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher have been named to the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.
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The Cal game will be the sixth for the Racers all-time against a team from the Pac-10 and the first since a 1986 game against USC in Bowling Green, Ky. The Racers are 2-3 overall (0-1 vs USC, 1-1 vs Arizona, 0-1 vs Arizona State, 1-0 vs Oregon. The 1986 game with USC happened at a WKU holiday tournament where the Trojans won 54-43 in overtime.
Murray State head coach Billy Kennedy was an assistant coach at Cal from 1993-97 and was part of some great seasons including a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet-16 in 1997. During Kennedy's tenure there, the Bears had two 20-win seasons and made three trips to the NCAA's. Kennedy coached Cal legends Jason Kidd, Shareff Abdur-Rahim and Tony Gonzales. Kennedy has never faced a Pac-10 team as a head coach.
MSU assistant coach Amir Abdur-Rahim's is the brother of Shareef who was a 12-year veteran of the NBA and is now an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
Thes game is part of the 2009 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer which will be played a multiple venues this month. Since 1996, the event has raised more than 14.5 million to help in the fight against cancer.
