Racers Begin OVC Play At EKU Thursday

Game-7
Murray State (3-3) (0-0 OVC)
vs
Eastern Kentucky (3-3) (0-0 OVC)
7:07 p.m. Central Time
McBrayer Arena
Richmond, Ky.
Racer TV Network

The Murray State Racers begin their quest for the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title when they travel to Richmond, Ky., for a Thursday 6:30 p.m. central time game. The Racers won the 2009-10 OVC title for the 21st time, the most in the history of the league. MSU is coming off a Thanksgiving appearance in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., where they played three strong teams over a four-day period. MSU defeated Stanford 55-52 (Nov. 25), lost 69-55 to UNLV (Nov. 26) and lost to Oklahoma State 66-49 (Nov. 28). In five games against D-I teams, the Racers have played teams from the SEC, Big-12, Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences.

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Game Notes

Murray State and Eastern Kentucky will be meeting for the 151st time in their series that dates back to 1934. MSU holds a 91-59 advantage and have won six of the last 10 meetings. Last season, the Racers beat the Colonels at home 62-60 on a last second shot by B.J. Jenkins and then won the second meeting in Richmond, Ky., by an 88-74 score. MSU and EKU have met 11 times in the OVC Tournament with the Racers taking seven of them including the last meeting in the tournament in 1995 in the semifinals. The Racers have won the last two at McBrayer Arena, EKU won three of the four before that.

MSU played the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 76 Classic third place game on Sunday and after leading at halftime, MSU dropped a 66-49 loss after being outscored 45-26 in the second half. Ivan Aska was the lone Racer in double-figure scoring with 10 as the Racers shot 38 percent from the field going 19-50. MSU was victimized by OSU's Keiton Page who was 10-13 from the field for 29 points. MSU came away from the 76 Classic having played three games with very good opponents and thus have the 20th rated schedule in the nation according to the Sagarin Ratings.

The Racers are opening OVC games against the Colonels for the fourth straight season and have won 13 of the last 14 and are 23-7 since 1980. MSU's 2007 loss to EKU snapped a streak of 11 straight seasons. Before that, MSU hadn't lost an OVC opener since 1996 at Tennessee Tech. MSU has played only one overtime game in an opener, that was a win over Austin Peay in 1993.

SCOUTING EKU: The Colonels enter the MSU game with a 3-3 mark. They defeated Cincinnati Christian College in a complete blowout (Nov. 23) 91-27. EKU lost at home (Nov. 20) to Presbyterian 67-66. EKU also has wins over SIUE 81-65 (Nov. 17) and Indiana State (Nov. 14) 64-59 in overtime in their final game of the Nick Kladis Classic in Chicago.

EKU senior Justin Stommes is 12 points shy of career 1,000, he'll be the 30th EKU player to reach the milestone.

The Colonels rely heavily on the three-point shot and are again on top in the OVC by hitting .380 (41-108). MSU is second in the league coming in at .374 (34-91).

Spencer Perrin leads four EKU players scoring in double-figures with 11.3, while the top EKU rebounder is Justin Stommes.

Here are the last 10 games in the series:

Year Location W/L Score

2005 Murray Won 80-51

2006 Richmond Won 62-45

2006 Richmond Lost 72-66 OT

2007 Murray Lost 64-62

2007 Murray Lost 58-59

2008 Richmond Lost 47-60

2008 Richmond Won 58-50

2009 Murray Won 70-65 OT

2009 Murray Won 62-60

2010 Richmond Won 88-74

Murray State University Athletics

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