Racers Take 86-55 Exhibition Over Freed-Hardeman

Tuesday, November 9

CFSB Center

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

Freed-Hardeman (Exhibition)

Photo by: Tab Brockman

11/9/2010 11:42:56 PM | Men's Basketball

FINAL STATISTICS

BOXSCORE(PDF)

PHOTO GALLERY

The Murray State Racers downed Freed-Hardeman 86-55 Tuesday in an exhibition game at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky., which served as a warm-up for the Racers' season opener on Monday (Nov. 15) when they host East Tennessee State.

MSU put three players in double-figures led by 18 points from Isaiah Canaan. The Racers also got 17 from Donte Poole and 13 from Ivan Aska to go with a team-high 7 rebounds.

The Racers led 26-20 with 7:05 before half when they ended on a 17-11 run to take a 43-31 advantage at the break.

MSU quickly had a 19-point lead (52-33) only 4:40 into the second half and saw their lead go to as many as 35 with 2:38 remaining.

The Racers forced the Lions into 29 turnovers and held them to 28 percent shooting in the second half and 38 percent for the game.

“I thought Jeff McClain, Ivan Aska and Ed Daniel especially, their effort was really good the first 12 to 15 minutes of the game, they were flying around defensively,” MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy said. “We did wear them out and were relentless over the course of the game; to force 29 turnovers against anyone is pretty good.”

The Racers are well aware of the season they had in 2009-10 that included 31 wins and a victory in the NCAA Tournament. Kennedy and team are also getting a lot of attention in the preseason including getting votes in the Associated Press Top-25 Polle and ESPN-USA Today Coaches Poll, However, Kennedy knows those things won't win any games.

“Our biggest concern right now is not comparing ourselves to last year's team,” Kennedy added. “This is a totally different team; we're younger in a lot of areas. The expectations on this team early are not warranted, but that's what comes in the territory of having a great season the year before. Our guys need to be patient and buy into the roles we have to establish with this team.”

The Racers played 12 players in the exhibition and all made the scoring column, which added up to 51 percent shooting (32-62) and 37 percent success from three-point range (6-16). Poole and Canaan were a combined 5-10 from three-point range.

MSU now prepares for the season opener Monday when they host East
Tennessee State at the CFSB Center at 7:30 p.m. The game is the second game of a double-header with the MSU women's squad playing Mid-Continent starting at 5:15 p.m.