Murray State University Athletics
MSU Men's Basketball Announces 2009-10 Schedule
7/28/2009 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Men's Basketball program released its 2009-10 schedule featuring 15 games at the Regional Special Events Center and several exciting non-conference games against the likes of Western Kentucky, California, Chattanooga, East Tennessee, and Louisiana Tech.
“I like our schedule, MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy said. “It's more balanced than what we had last season and that will definitely benefit us down the stretch.”
MSU gets the season going with a Nov. 5 home exhibition game against Bethel before hitting the road Nov. 9 for a contest at California, part of the renowned Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
The game will be aired on ESPNU.
The Bears are a rising team from the PAC-10 and have been picked 16th in the preseason poll by CollegeHoops.net.
The game at Berkeley, Calif., marks the return to familiar territory for Kennedy who was an assistant on the Bears' staff from 1993-97.
“Starting the season with a great team like Cal will provide an immediate test for our team,” Kennedy added. “And after Cal, we play four teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season. It's going to be a challenging preseason schedule.”
Indeed, the Racers play five teams this season (California, East Tennessee State, Chattanooga, WKU, and Morehead State) that made it to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
One of the highlighted road games this season comes Dec. 22 when Murray State travels to Bowling Green, Ky., to face long-time rival Western Kentucky.
“The Western Kentucky game is a classic rivalry that our team and fans look forward to.” Kennedy said. “It will be a tough contest in Bowling Green this year.”
The game is the 147th in the series that dates back to 1932.
WKU is scheduled to play in Murray in the 2010-11 season for the final game of a four-game series.
MSU will be going for their 20th straight win in home openers Nov. 14 against Missouri-St. Louis.
The Racers play in Miami, Fla., before Thanksgiving in the continuation of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic. MSU faces James Madison Nov. 20, North Carolina Central Nov. 22, and host Florida International Nov. 23. The Panthers new coach is NBA great Isiah Thomas. MSU hasn't faced FIU since 1993 and meets JMU and NCC for the first time.
MSU returns home for three straight games starting Nov. 28 against Tennessee Wesleyan before getting an early start to the Ohio Valley Conference season Dec. 3 with Eastern Kentucky. The Racers also host Morehead State Dec. 5.
MSU finishes out December with five games against non-conference competition.
Dec. 12 finds MSU in Johnson City, Tenn., taking on East Tennessee State for the first time since 1978 when the Bucs were members of the OVC.
ETSU will play in Murray in the 2010-11 season.
The Racers travel to Ruston, La., to meet Louisiana Tech Dec. 15. The Bulldogs played at MSU last season as part of the ESPNU BracktBusters event.
After MSU makes the trip to WKU Dec. 22, they finish 2009 with a road game at future OVC opponent SIU Edwardsville Dec. 30. The Cougars also make a trip to the RSEC Jan. 27. SIUE will play in the OVC in 2011-12 and be eligible to compete for the championship in 2012-13.
January features a three-game home stand against Eastern Illinois Jan. 11, Jacksonville State Jan. 14, and Tennessee Tech Jan. 16, after home games with UT Martin Jan. 4 and SIUE. The Racers have road games against Tennessee State Jan. 7 and Austin Peay Jan. 9. MSU plays road games Jan. 21 at EIU and Southeast Missouri Jan. 23.
The Racers host TSU Feb. 4 and APSU Feb. 6 before traveling to TTU Feb. 11 and JSU Feb. 13. MSU hosts SEMO Feb. 16 before hosting an ESPU BracketBuster game Feb. 20. The regular season ends with MSU making the “Death Valley” trip to Eastern Kentucky Feb. 25 and Morehead State Feb. 27.
The OVC Tournament quarterfinals will be held at four campus sites Mar. 2 with the semifinals being staged at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., Mar. 5. The championship game is Mar. 6.
Information about game times and tickets will be announced later.
