Murray State University Athletics
Photo by: Kevin Weaks
Racers Claim 21st Straight Home Opener in 50-39 Win Over ETSU
11/15/2010 10:26:35 PM | Men's Basketball
Boxscore
Boxscore (pdf)
Photo Gallery
The Murray State Racers used a strong defensive effort to win their 2010-11 season and home opener Monday in a 50-39 win over East Tennessee State at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The win for the Racers marks their 21st straight in home openers dating back to their last loss in 1989 and they're perfect in home openers in 13 seasons in the CFSB Center.
After a slow start that saw MSU miss their first eight shots, they settled down and tied the game 10-10 on a jumper and a pair of free throws from Jewuan Long with 6:32 in the half.
MSU took the lead for good with 6:05 in the first half after a fast-break three-pointer from B.J. Jenkins for a 13-10 MSU lead.
MSU led 22-17 at the half.
Jenkins provided the spark at the start of the second half with a three and a steal that led to an Isaiah Canaan easy deuce and the Racers led 27-17 only 3:21 into the half.
Jenkins kept the MSU lead at 12 with another three with 8:50 remaining.
Donte Poole's steal and basket with 7:50 left gave MSU its largest lead of the game at 42-28.
The Racers were led by B.J. Jenkins with 14 points and three rebounds. Ivan Aska was the team's rebounding leader with seven.
After the game, Racers Head Coach Billy Kennedy talked about the patience the team had at the start of the game.
“No one got frustrated and I thought that was a key in us winning the game,” Kennedy said. “I think that helped us because I thought they got frustrated at times and I liked our composure tonight.”
“It's a home game and we have to win our home games,” Kennedy added. “We had a good crowd tonight and our students were participating in the game, so it was a good win.”
Kennedy said his team faced a highly determined team from ETSU.
“They hadn't played the 1-2-2 zone a lot and they're very big on the perimeter, they had two or three inches on us at each position,” Kennedy said. “It took us a while to adjust to their zone, a lot of it had to do with what they were doing. We're a man to man team, so when we practice a zone it's not near as good as when ETSU does it. It was a challenge for us.”
NOTES
MSU pushed its home winning streak to 20 straight with the win. The Racers are 42-4 in the CFSB Center in the last three seasons.
The Racers leads the all-time series with ETSU 24-19 and are 15-6 in Murray. ETSU was playing its first game in Murray since 1978. The two were OVC foes from 1957-78.
MSU won its 41st straight game when holding the lead with five minutes remaining in the game. MSU has also won 26 straight games when holding an opponent under 60 points.
MSU made 12 steals against ETSU and caused 25 turnovers. In 36 games last season, the Racers had 20 games of double-digit steals.
After falling behind 10-4 in the first half, MSU's run was 27-9 when they had the lead 31-19 with 15:50 left in the game.
Boxscore (pdf)
Photo Gallery
The Murray State Racers used a strong defensive effort to win their 2010-11 season and home opener Monday in a 50-39 win over East Tennessee State at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The win for the Racers marks their 21st straight in home openers dating back to their last loss in 1989 and they're perfect in home openers in 13 seasons in the CFSB Center.
After a slow start that saw MSU miss their first eight shots, they settled down and tied the game 10-10 on a jumper and a pair of free throws from Jewuan Long with 6:32 in the half.
MSU took the lead for good with 6:05 in the first half after a fast-break three-pointer from B.J. Jenkins for a 13-10 MSU lead.
MSU led 22-17 at the half.
Jenkins provided the spark at the start of the second half with a three and a steal that led to an Isaiah Canaan easy deuce and the Racers led 27-17 only 3:21 into the half.
Jenkins kept the MSU lead at 12 with another three with 8:50 remaining.
Donte Poole's steal and basket with 7:50 left gave MSU its largest lead of the game at 42-28.
The Racers were led by B.J. Jenkins with 14 points and three rebounds. Ivan Aska was the team's rebounding leader with seven.
After the game, Racers Head Coach Billy Kennedy talked about the patience the team had at the start of the game.
“No one got frustrated and I thought that was a key in us winning the game,” Kennedy said. “I think that helped us because I thought they got frustrated at times and I liked our composure tonight.”
“It's a home game and we have to win our home games,” Kennedy added. “We had a good crowd tonight and our students were participating in the game, so it was a good win.”
Kennedy said his team faced a highly determined team from ETSU.
“They hadn't played the 1-2-2 zone a lot and they're very big on the perimeter, they had two or three inches on us at each position,” Kennedy said. “It took us a while to adjust to their zone, a lot of it had to do with what they were doing. We're a man to man team, so when we practice a zone it's not near as good as when ETSU does it. It was a challenge for us.”
NOTES
MSU has now won 21 straight home openers and 13 straight in the CSFB Center since the building opened in 1998 with a win over Southern Illinois. MSU's last home opener loss was in old Racer Arena in triple overtime to SIU in 1989. MSU is 60-3 in home openers since 1948.
MSU pushed its home winning streak to 20 straight with the win. The Racers are 42-4 in the CFSB Center in the last three seasons.
The Racers leads the all-time series with ETSU 24-19 and are 15-6 in Murray. ETSU was playing its first game in Murray since 1978. The two were OVC foes from 1957-78.
MSU won its 41st straight game when holding the lead with five minutes remaining in the game. MSU has also won 26 straight games when holding an opponent under 60 points.
MSU made 12 steals against ETSU and caused 25 turnovers. In 36 games last season, the Racers had 20 games of double-digit steals.
After falling behind 10-4 in the first half, MSU's run was 27-9 when they had the lead 31-19 with 15:50 left in the game.
The Racers now hit the road for a Wednesday 7 p.m. game at Mississippi. The Rebels lead the all-time series 3-1 with the Racers' only win coming the last time they played in 1993 in Murray. The first meeting in the series was in 1958.
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