Murray State
UT Martin
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MSU Moves To 3-0 In OVC With 83-59 Win Over UTM
1/5/2010 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers pushed their home winning streak to 10 games Monday with an 83-59 win over the UT Martin Skyhawks at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers (11-3) improved their first place record in the Ohio Valley Conference to 3-0, their best start since the 2005-06 season.
MSU senior Danero Thomas was a big reason the Racers outscored the Skyhawks 46-25 in the first half and took control of the game.
Thomas finished the night with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with a career-high six steals. He also had five assists.
"It really starts in practice," Thomas said. "It showed tonight because we played very hard. Assists and steals are very important because we try to get everyone into the game. We can all score and the points will come if you do the other things that help us win."
Racers head coach Billy Kennedy moved his mark in his fourth season at MSU to 64-42.
"I was glad to see us come out and play well from the beginning," he said. "We had intensity on defense and to limit them to 25 in the first half was good. Our stamp is defensive intensity and defensive effort and it was good to see Danero affect the game in a lot of areas."
MSU took little time in setting the tone when they took a 19-5 lead only 8:30 into the contest on a Jeffery McClain hoop.
The lead went to 21 at the half when MSU got two steals in the last 30 seconds that turned into baskets for Tony Easley and B.J. Jenkins.
The Racers advantage went to 30 with 8:42 left in the game.
MSU also got 14 points each from Ivan Aska and Jenkins.
The Racers managed another outstanding effort defending their opponent's leading scorer. UTM's Benzor Simmons entered the game averaging 19.2 but MSU held him scoreless until 2:00 into the second half. Simmons' finished the game with five.
MSU held UTM to 37 percent shooting while hitting 56 percent themselves.
MSU had an amazing 20 assists on their 33 field goals.
GAME NOTES
Tony Easley extended his streak of consecutive games with a blocked shot to 13. He had two tonight and has 95 for his MSU career putting him in 10th on the all-time list for the Racers.
Murray State is 137-25 (.845) all-time in their 12th season in the RSEC and 96-15 (.834) against OVC opponents. MSU's mark against non-league teams is 40-10 (.803). The Racers are 40-9 (.816) at the RSEC in the Billy Kennedy era. MSU is 6-0 this season at home and have won 10 straight.
MSU leads the all-time series with UT Martin now 35-3 and are 20-0 in Murray, Ky. The Racers have won all 13 games played at the RSEC. Billy Kennedy is 6-1 against the Skyhawks.
In respect to the rebuilding seasons he went through at Centenary and Southeastern Louisiana, Billy Kennedy has reached the 500-mark with a record of 168-168 in his 12th season as a head coach. His work at MSU is outstanding as he now has a 64-42 record with the Racers in his fourth season.
Isaiah Canaan earned his third OVC Freshman of the Week honor before tonight's game after his 17-point performance Wednesday at SIUE. Canaan was perfect for the game hitting all six of his shots from the field and all four from the free throw line. Canaan also extended his streak of consecutive games with a three-point basket to 13 by going 1-of-2 against UTM.
The Racers' next game is Thursday at Tennessee State in the Gentry Center in Nashville, Tenn.. The game will air on the Racer TV Network at 7:30 p.m.
MSU leads the series with the Tigers 40-15 and are 18-7 in the Gentry Center. MSU has won the last two including an OVC Tournament quarterfinal win last season 88-74 at the RSEC.
