Murray State
Chattanooga
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Racers Roll At RSEC 73-62 Over Chattanooga
12/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers pushed their home winning streak to nine Saturday with a 73-62 win over the Chattanooga Mocs at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
Starting the second half with a four-point lead, the Racers (9-2) used a 9-0 run at the 11:40 mark to build their biggest lead of the day at 58-45.
The Racers saw B.J. Jenkins make a steal that led to an easy basket and it was followed by a three-pointer from Isaiah Canaan that gave MSU a 13-point advantage.
The Mocs (5-6) cut the Racer lead to six at 7:35, but Canaan followed with a three-pointer to put MSU ahead 63-54 with 6:43 remaining.
Tony Easley and Canaan led the way for MSU each scoring 16 points and together, the senior-freshman combination was 13-of-19 from the field.
Jenkins and Ivan Aska each scored 11 for the Racers, who shot 52 percent on 27-of-52 shooting, while holding Chattanooga to 38 percent on 23-of-61 shooting.
The Racers also forced the Mocs into 18 turnovers and had a 40-26 advantage on points scored in the paint.
MSU head coach Billy Kennedy was pleased to see his team come out on the winning side.
"It was good to be at home," Kennedy said. "It seems like forever since were at home and today we didn't play well, but we played well enough to win. We didn't do a good job in the first five minutes and that 10-point hole was something we had to work to get out of."
In the first half, the Racers trailed 18-8 at the 14:18 mark when they used defense to get back into the flow.
Canaan made a steal and converted and moments later Aska did the same to cut the Mocs lead to 20-16 at 10:00.
MSU drew even at 24-24 on a three-pointer by Isacc Miles with 6:28 left.
MSU's final basket of the first half was a steal and dunk by Aska and the Racers led 36-34 after Jasper Williams made a pair of free throws with 3.3 left.
The Racers play their final game before the Christmas break Tuesday at Western Kentucky.
GAME NOTES
The Racers now lead the all-time series with Chattanooga 5-2 and are 4-0 at home.
The Racers have won nine straight games at the RSEC and are 5-0 this season. MSU's next home game is Jan. 4 against UT Martin.
MSU now has a 41-10 (.803) record against non-league opponents in the RSEC and are 136-25 (.844) overall. The Racers are 39-9 (.780) at home in the Billy Kennedy era.
Murray State senior Danero Thomas was honored before the Chattanooga game for recently joining the MSU 1000-Point Club. Thomas, from New Orleans, La., became the 35th member of the club Dec. 5 when he scored 18 points against the Morehead State Eagles.
When Isaiah Canaan hit a three-pointer at the 3:12 mark of the first half, it marked 10 straight games in which he has hit a three. The only game he didn't make a three-pointer was the season opener Nov. 9 at California. Canaan leads the Racers in three-point percentage at .394. He's made 13-of-33 this season.
"He started the game with a couple of turnovers and a quick shot, he was maybe a little too casual," Kennedy said. "But once he got into the flow of the game, he was very comfortable. Isaiah is fearless, he's one of our best perimeter shooters and I can't say enough about how good he has played as a freshman."
The Racers saw UTC leading scorer Ty Patterson come out hot in scoring 16 first half points. However, MSU shut down the 19.0 per game scorer by holding him scoreless in the second half on 0-of-4 shooting. The Racers have held the opponent's leading scorer under his average in nine of 11 games this season.
The Racers' final game before Christmas is Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Bowling Green, Ky., against Western Kentucky. The game is the first live broadcast of the season on the Racer Television Network. The game can be seen by customers of NewWave Communications and Mediacom.
The Racers and Hilltoppers first met in 1932 and have played 146 times with WKU holding a 94-52 advantage. MSU won last year's meeting at home 89-61 and have won six of the last 10 meetings. MSU's last trip to Diddle Arena in 2007 was an 87-63 loss. The Racers last posted a win at WKU in 2003 in double overtime 100-95.
"We're looking forward to it," Kennedy said. "It's a fun game. We'll have to play our best game of the year to win in my opinion. They've had some success and the last three years have been a very good team and they have players with a lot of experience."
