Murray State
Louisiana Tech
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MSU Snaps Eight-Game Win Streak 87-81 at LaTech
12/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers snapped their eight-game winning streak Tuesday in Ruston, La., with an 87-81 loss at Louisiana Tech.
The decisive run for the Bulldogs came after the game was tied 52-52 with 14:49 left.
The Racers suffered a scoring lapse and Tech took advantage by putting together a 13-4 run to lead by nine with 8:07 left.
MSU did manage to cut the lead to 81-78 with 21 seconds remaining on a three-pointer from Isacc Miles and a free throw from Isaiah Canaan, but they could not get the game any closer.
Miles led MSU with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Isaiah Canaan scored a career-high 15. B.J. Jenkins added 12 with 11 each coming from Ivan Aska and Danero Thomas.
The Racers (8-2) fell behind 7-0 to start the game, but got the juices flowing with a 13-3 run to take a 13-10 lead at 14:31.
After Tech came back to tie it at 26-26 at 6:20, the Racers got a pair of three-pointers from Jenkins and one from Canaan to go back in front 34-28 with 4:31 before half.
The Racers went into the half with a 41-38 lead after Jenkins picked off a Tech pass and fed Miles for a layup with 5.5 seconds left.
In the end, the Racers did force Tech into 20 turnovers, but committed 20 of their own.
MSU head coach Billy Kennedy felt like the Racers left a lot on the table.
"On the defensive end, we give up 49 points in the second half and that is not good," Kennedy said. "Taking nothing away from Louisiana Tech, but we felt like we beat ourselves. We fouled the three-point shooter twice and we made unforced turnovers and those mistakes are on us."
The Bulldog's 49-point second half was the highest against the Racers this season topping the 45 FIU scored Nov. 23.
"We're going to get back to defense because we aren't going to give up 49 points in a half," Kennedy added. "We did some nice things tonight, but there were stretches where we missed four straight free throws and times when we had turnovers. You can't give the home team 45 free throws and expect to win the game."
MSU ended the day shooting 45 percent from the field, but allowed Louisiana Tech to shoot 57 percent, the best against a Racer team this season in 10 games.
Tech went to the free throw line 45 times where they hit 33 for 73 percent, while the Racers got to the line 24 times making 19 for 79 percent.
GAME NOTES
The Racers lost for the first time this season when leading at the half. They led 41-38 at the break but couldn't hang on and are 7-1 overall.
Danero Thomas' 11 points gives him 1,027 in his MSU career. He'll move into 33rd place on the all-time MSU scoring list when he catches Hector Blondet who had 1,030 from 1968-71. Ivan Aska is approaching the 500-point mark and has 447 after an 11-point effort against Tech.
The Racers had 11 steals marking the eighth time this season they've had double-digit steals. MSU entered the game ranked third in the nation with 12.8 per game. B.J. Jenkins had his second game of the season with five steals.
The 45 attempts by Tech were the most against the Racers since the 47 Southeast Missouri attempted in 2007.
Kennedy said he was pleased with the game freshman Isaiah Canaan had against Tech. Canaan ended the day with a career-high 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 6-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. "He did a lot of nice things for us to tonight," Kennedy said. "Defensively, he got beat off the dribble to much and that's something he's got to work on, but he did a good job of driving and getting to the foul line."
The Racers return home Saturday for a 2 p.m. game against the Mocs of Chattanooga at the Regional Special Events Center. It's Youth Day at the RSEC and all kids 18 and under get in for only $2.50.
"It's going to be a war I can tell you that," Kennedy said. "They're a talented team and they're over the injuries they've had. They are very capable of beating us if we don't come to play. It's going to be good to get back home and play."
MSU leads the all-time series with Chattanooga 4-2 and will be hosting the Mocs for the first time since a 72-63 win at the RSEC in 2001. MSU has lost the last two in the series, they also played at Chattanooga in 2001 just before Christmas and lost 71-58. The last meeting was at Chattanooga's Dr. Pepper Classic in 2007 which was a Mocs win 74-50. The first meeting in the series happened in 1963.
