Murray State
Eastern Illinois
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MSU Takes 11th Straight RSEC Win 75-59 Over EIU
1/12/2010 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers pushed their Ohio Valley Conference first place mark to 6-0 Monday with a 75-59 victory over visiting Eastern Illinois at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers (14-3) showed again that many games turn on a great play or sequence and that is what happened with 15:06 remaining in the game.
With MSU leading 37-33, EIU's Dewayne Wright scored a rare four-point play when he was fouled by MSU's Isaiah Canaan while making a three-point basket. His play tied the game 37-37.
Not to be outdone, Canaan did Wright one better with an amazing five-point play.
It was set up when Isacc Miles was fouled attempting a three-pointer with 14:48 left. He went to the line and hit the first two free throws before missing the third. MSU grabbed the rebound and found Canaan for the three and presto, the Racers had a five-point play and a 42-37 lead.
MSU's good fortune started a 12-2 run that helped them stay perfect in league play at 6-0, their best start since the 1998-99 squad started 13-0.
However, the Racers' 11th straight win at home didn't come without some heartburn.
MSU trailed at the half for only the third time this season 28-24 when they hit only 7-of-32 shots for 22 percent. They made up for it in the second half by shooting 50 percent on 13-of-26 attempts.
"I'm really proud of our guys resiliency," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "The first half we really struggled shooting the ball and you've got give Eastern Illinois a lot of credit for that. Their defense was good and we missed some shots that we've made in the past."
"It seemed like everything was going against us," Kennedy added. "We had some block-charge situations that were tough calls that went the other way, but that happens, it's part of the game."
MSU had their best game of the season from the free throw line where they hit 28-of-31 for 90 percent.
Isacc Miles led the way with a brilliant game of 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting (with four three-point baskets) in 32 minutes on the floor.
"Isaac Miles is the epitome of what any coach who is a defensive minded coach would want to have," Kennedy said. "He works so hard on other areas of his game like shooting and it was good to see that payoff for him."
B.J. Jenkins added 14 points, which included a perfect night from the line in six tries.
Jeffery McClain played a strong game off the bench with eight points, all from the free throw line in eight attempts, to go with five rebounds.
Tony Easley had his third game this season with five blocked shots to go with eight points and eight rebounds.
MSU outscored the Panthers in the second half 51-31.
In a two week schedule that has MSU playing often, they have little time to enjoy the win with the next contest coming Thursday at home against Jacksonville State. Tip time at the RSEC is 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
The only other times MSU trailed at the half this season before tonight was Nov. 9 at California (34-26) and Dec. 3 against Eastern Kentucky (33-30).
The Racers are 6-0 in the OVC and every opponent has scored 60 or fewer points. In each of the last five wins, the opponent has not reached 60. EKU had 60 (Dec. 3) in a 62-60 loss to the Racers.
Easley had another five-block game and had four of them in the first 1:30 of the game. He also turned in five blocks this season against James Madison (Nov. 20) and Chattanooga (Dec. 19) and now has 105 blocks in his career moving past Quennon Echols (1996-98) for eighth place on the MSU all-time list. Easley's 41 blocks has him close to cracking the top-10 list for a single season. Tenth place belongs to Cuthbert Victor who had 44 in 2001-02. Pearson Griffith owns the single-season mark with 79 in the 2005-06 season.
Easley and Isaiah Canaan continued their impressive streaks tonight. Easley has at least one blocked shot in 16 straight games, while Canaan has a streak of 16 games with at least one made three-point basket.
Murray State is 138-25 (.846) all-time in their 12th season in the RSEC and 97-15 (.866) against OVC opponents. MSU's mark against non-league teams is 40-10 (.803). The Racers are 41-9 (.820) at the RSEC in the Billy Kennedy era and 7-0 this season.
With the win, MSU's home winning streak is now 11. MSU hasn't lost since dropping the BracketBusters game to Louisiana Tech Feb. 21, 2009.
Here is a list of the MSU wins at the RSEC.
02-23-09 UT Martin Won 74-59
02-26-09 Morehead St. Won 69-64
02-28-09 Eastern Ky. Won 70-65
03-03-09 Tenn. State* Won 88-74
11-14-09 UMSL Won 92-54
11-28-09 TWC Won 108-49
12-03-09 Eastern Ky. Won 62-60
12-05-09 Morehead St. Won 86-56
12-19-09 Chattanooga Won 73-62
01-04-10 UT Martin Won 83-59
01-11-10 Eastern Ill. Won 75-59
* OVC Tournament
