Murray State
Western Kentucky
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Murray State Falls 82-73 At WKU
12/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers dropped an 83-72 game Tuesday to Western Kentucky at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.
MSU fell to 9-3 on their final game before the Christmas break.
The game seemed to be in MSU's favor until the early part of the second half.
After leading 36-35 at the half, the Racers took a three-point lead when Isacc Miles converted a steal with 16:39 remaining.
WKU tied the game with at 15:34 on a three-pointer by A.J. Slaughter and built a 61-53 lead with 9:25 remaining.
The Racers never get any closer than six the rest of the way.
"They had more poise that we did today," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "Their go-to guys Slaughter, Evans and Pettigrew stepped up and ours didn't. We knew this team in this place was going to make a run at us and they did."
The Racers were outscored 48-36 in the second half.
"We learned a lot about our team today," Kennedy added. "This was a big stage on the road and we did a lot of good things. However, we have to do the little things too, like making free throws, executing on defense and limiting unforced turnovers. This was the toughest environment we've played in this season."
The first half was a back and forth affair that featured nine lead changes.
The Racers took their first lead at 8-7 when Miles made a drive at the 14:33 mark.
After falling behind 18-10, MSU had an 8-0 run to tie it at 8:15 left on a drive by Donte Poole who led the Racers with seven first half points.
MSU carried a 36-35 lead into the half when Jenkins hit a driving shot with 35 seconds remaining.
Jenkins led the Racers with 16 points, while Miles added 12 and Tony Easley had 11 to go with eight rebounds.
MSU shot 45 percent for the game from the field on 26-of-57 shots, but WKU managed to shoot 52 percent on 29-of-55 shots.
GAME NOTES
The Racers' next action is Dec. 30 when they travel to play SIU Edwardsville at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. The 7 p.m. start can been heard on Froggy 103.7 FM and the Racer TV Network which consists of the cable systems of NewWave Communications, Mediacom and Comcast.
After the SIUE game, the other Racer TV Network games are: Tennessee State (Jan. 7), Tennessee Tech (Feb. 11), Jacksonville State (Feb. 13), Morehead State (Feb. 25) and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 27). All games are road games for the Racers.
The meeting between the Racers and Cougars is their first since SIUE was accepted as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cougars, who're moving up to NCAA D-I from D-II, will play a full OVC schedule in 2012-13. MSU last played SIUE in 2004 at the RSEC and posted a 75-67 win. MSU leads the all-time series 4-1.
The Racers' next home game is Jan. 4 when they host UT Martin.
