Murray State
SIU Edwardsville
Racers Move to 10-3 With 82-51 Win Over SIUE
12/30/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Racers (10-3) led 36-30 at halftime and saw the Cougars (2-12) cut their lead to two points 15:12 to play.
MSU used their defense to generate consecutive baskets from Ed Daniel, Danero Thomas, Isaiah Canaan and Isacc Miles for a 48-38 lead with 12:59 remaining.
The Racers bench outscored the Cougars bench 45-12 for game as Canaan had a perfect night going 6-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line for a game-high 17 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Canaan also pushed his streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 12 straight when he made his only attempt of the game.
"He was pretty good tonight and we need him to be good," said MSU head coach Billy Kennedy. "Isaiah did a great job of preparing in practice. He gets pushed in practice and I've said all along that we have a deep team and I think that helped us a lot tonight."
Donte Poole added 13 from the MSU bench while Tony Easley added 12 and Isacc Miles 10.
The Racers shot a season-best .625 from the field on 30-of-48 shooting, while holding SIUE to .333 on 19-of-57.
MSU trailed at the half in the rebounding total, but managed to win the stat at game's end 32-30.
The Racers held SIUE's leading scorer Mark Yelovich to 11 points which was below his 15.8 average. MSU has now held the opponent's leading scorer below his average in 11 of their 13 games this season.
MSU returns to Ohio Valley Conference play Monday when they host the UT Martin Skyhawks in a 7:30 p.m. game at the Regional Special Events Center. MSU leads the all-time series with UTM 34-3 and have never lost a game to the Skyhawks at the RSEC in 12 games.
GAME NOTES
The Racers are 5-1 all-time against SIUE after making their first appearance at the Vadalabene Center. SIUE makes a return game to the RSEC Jan. 27.
Several Racers are nearing personal milestones in either scoring or rebounding. Danero Thomas is one rebound from 400, while Tony Easley is 14 from career 500. In scoring, Ivan Aska is 29 and Isacc Miles is 48 from 500, while Easley is nine points from 700.
Easley had four blocks in the SIUE game giving him 93 for his career. He'll move into ninth place on the MSU all-time list when he catches Paul King (1987-91) at 99. He also has a streak of 12 straight games with at least one block.
MSU's .625 field goal percentage was the best this season, however the team record of .725 from 1985 against Austin Peay still stands when MSU was 37-of-51.
Danero Thomas had one steal in the SIUE game giving him 139 for his career. Thomas is the top active player in the OVC in steals and will move into eighth place on the MSU all-time list when he catches Glen Green (1979-83) at 141.
MSU carries a nine-game home winning streak into the UTM game. MSU is 5-0 this season.
MSU is 95-15 (.863) all-time in OVC games in the RSEC and 41-10 (.803) against non-league opponents, the overall mark is 136-25 (.844). The Racers are 39-9 (.780) at home in the Billy Kennedy era.
