Murray State
East Tennessee State
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MSU Takes 8th Straight Victory 61-57 At ETSU
12/13/2009 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers ran their winning streak to eight with a 61-57 win Saturday over East Tennessee State at Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn.
The win was MSU's eighth straight since losing at No. 12 California on opening day Nov. 9 and the streak matches head coach Billy Kennedy's longest win streak in 12 years as a head coach.
The day was a tail of two halves as the Racers played a great one starting out, then had to hang on for all they were worth to get the win.
MSU (8-1) started the game by taking a 16-7 lead at 11:30 when B.J. Jenkins and Danero Thomas each hit three-point baskets.
After ETSU cut the lead to eight at 9:56, the Racers pushed it back to 14 at 30-16 when Isacc Miles hit a fast break basket with 6:20 before half.
Ivan Aska was a handful for ETSU in the opening half with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go with six rebounds as the Racers had their largest lead of the day when he hit a buzzer-beating jumper to give MSU a 36-20 lead at the half.
After building an 18-point lead when Tony Easley scored the first basket of the second half, the Racers led 38-20 with 19:24 remaining.
But ETSU dug in on their home court and came back with a 25-2 run and made it a 45-40 game when Marvin Williams hit a three-pointer with 11:44 left.
The Racers eventually lost the lead and trailed by one at the 2:07 mark, but made the plays to preserve victory.
Danero Thomas scored when MSU broke the Bucs press for a 55-54 MSU lead at 1:54 and pushed ahead by three when Miles made a tough shot down the lane with 1:23 left.
After ETSU missed a three-pointer with 23 seconds left and MSU ahead by one, Isaiah Canaan made a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left and MSU got out of town with a 61-57 win.
MSU head coach Billy Kennedy explained what happened to his team in the second half and how they found a way to prevail.
"Isacc looked like he was out there by himself," Kennedy said. "He made some turnovers, but we had guys leaving the ball and putting him in bad situations. Their press bothered us."
"We hadn't been in a situation like that this season against a pressing team," Kennedy added. "You knew ETSU would make a run, they've got a good team, but fortunately we were able to come through and get a win."
Ivan Aska pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds in the MSU win to go with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Danero Thomas added 12.
Isacc Miles had five of MSU's 12 steals.
MSU outrebounded the Bucs 39-29 and scored 20 points off of 20 ETSU turnovers.
The Racers defense was again very good as they held Tommy Hubbard and Justin Tubbs to a combined 14 points when the two came in averaging 32.
GAME NOTES
The game today with ETSU was the first meeting in the series since 1978 when the Bucs were members of the Ohio Valley Conference. MSU now leads the series 23-19.
Danero Thomas' 12 points means he has 1,015 in his MSU career. He'll catch Hector Blondet (1968-71) as 33rd on the all-time scoring list when he passes 1,030 points.
Isaiah Canaan was 1-of-2 from three-point range and has hit at least one in eight straight games.
The Racers led at the half today 36-20 and are now 7-0 this season when leading at the break. Billy Kennedy is 49-9 at MSU when leading at the half.
After the game, the Racers bused to Birmingham, Ala., where they will spend the Saturday and Sunday nights, before traveling to Ruston, La., for Tuesday's game with Louisiana Tech. MSU will practice Sunday at UAB.
The Racers' game against La Tech is a return game from their BracketBusters game last season in Murray, Ky. The Bulldogs beat the Racers 69-60 at the RSEC.
"Louisiana Tech will be the best team we've played all season by far," Kennedy said. "They've got post players, they've got experience and it will be quite a challenge for us."
