Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
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Racers Finish OVC 17-1 With 88-74 Victory Over EKU
2/28/2010 8:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers became the third team in school history to go through the Ohio Valley Conference season with only one loss when they posted an 88-74 win against Eastern Kentucky at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky.
The Racers finished the regular season with a 27-4 record and 17-1 in the OVC as they had previously clinched their 21st OVC title Feb. 16.
MSU did it against an EKU team that was 15-1 home this season with a three-pronged effort that featured great defense, rebounding and three-point shooting.
The Racers saw B.J. Jenkins and Isaiah Canaan combine for 11-of-12 shooting from three-point range and each scored 22 points, which was a career high for the freshman Canaan.
MSU owned the boards with a 40-23 edge, while holding EKU to 30 percent shooting from the field.
The fireworks for MSU began when they trailed by five with 7:09 remaining in the first half.
The Racers managed a brilliant 20-4 run to end the half to earn a 37-26 lead that included five straight three-pointers with four from Canaan and one from Jenkins.
MSU's lead went to 18 at 15:20 remaining in the second half when Jenkins hit a three, but EKU cut the Racer lead to five at 9:11.
EKU trailed 77-69 with 2:36 left, but Canaan and Jenkins combined to hit 9-of-10 free throws to seal MSU's win.
There were other heroes for the Racers including, Ivan Aska who scored 15 points and had seven rebounds, while Danero Thomas had 13 points and nine boards.
As the dust settled on the final day of competition in the OVC regular season, it was determined that the Racers host No. 8 seed Tennessee State in the OVC Tournament Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Ky.
GAME NOTES
After losing four straight to EKU, the Racers have now won four in a row over the Colonels and lead the all-time series 91-59.
The Racers head into the OVC Tournament with a chance to set a school record for wins in a single season. The Racers' 1997-98 team won 29 games under coach Mark Gottfried. At the moment, MSU is tied with the teams from 1937-38 (Coach Carlisle Cutchin) and 1998-99 (Coach Tevester Anderson) with 27 wins.
The last time MSU had two players score 20 points was Jan. 24, 2008 when Tyler Holloway and Bruce Carter each had 21 against Tennessee Tech.
MSU hasn't lost a game at home this season and has an 18-game winning streak at the RSEC.
