Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State
54-Point Second Half Sends MSU To 88-58 Win At TSU
2/5/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers used a 54-point second half to run away with an 88-58 victory Wednesday against the Tennessee State Tigers at the
The Racers upped their record in the Ohio Valley Conference to 6-4 and 11-9 overall in stretching their winning streak to three straight. TSU fell to 4-8 in league play and 6-16 overall.
MSU didn't know it at the time, but Donte Poole's buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half was the bucket that started a run that ended up being the deciding factor.
MSU kept that momentum going in the second half when they started with a 15-2 run to take a commanding 49-32 with 13:49 remaining.
The Racer lead eventually ballooned to 33 points with 3:33 left.
MSU broke out of a recent shooting slump and hit 59 percent from the field on 32-of-54 shots, while holding TSU to 43 percent on 23-of-53 shooting. The Racers were also hot from three-point land where they hit 5-of-11 shots for 45 percent, the Tigers hit 35 percent on 5-of-14.
It turned out to be a great second half for MSU as they shot 82 percent making 19-of-23 shots.
The Racers made it to the line 28 times and knocked down 19 for 68 percent, TSU only made it to the line 11 times and hit seven for 63 percent.
MSU had balanced scoring up and down their line up with 10 different players scoring led by 17 from Danero Thomas. MSU also got big games from a pair of freshmen, as Donte Poole scored 15 and Ivan Aska 14.
MSU won the rebound battle 35-25 with Tony Easley pulling down 10.
The First half was a tight battle with the Racers' jumping to a 5-0 lead on a three from Danero Thomas and a steal and easy basket by Isacc Miles. MSU led by seven at the 5:42 mark after a pair of Aska free throws to make it a 25-18 score.
GAME NOTES
The 30-point win for MSU was their largest in an OVC game since they defeated UT Martin by 39 points at the RSEC last season in the regular season final 98-59. The margin was MSU's largest on the road in an OVC game since they defeated Southeast Missouri last season by 28 in a 79-51 score and it MSU's largest margin of victory at TSU since a 32-point win (95-63) in 1999.
The Racers domination in the second half was compete when they held TSU to only one field goal in the first eight minutes to build a 23-point lead with 12:15 left.
MSU senior Tyler Holloway continued his quest to become the 34th member of the MSU 1,000-Point Club with an eight-point performance. Holloway now has 971 career points. He also hit one three-pointer and has 182 in his MSU career. In fourth place on the MSU all-time list, Holloway is gaining on Justin Burdine (1998-02) who holds down third place with 198.
The Racers lead the all-time series with TSU 39-15, are 17-7 in
MSU now prepares to travel to
