Murray State University Athletics
Extending The Stay In San Jose - Racers Prep For Butler
3/19/2010 11:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 36
(13) Murray State
(31-4)
vs
(5) Butler
(29-4)
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Saturday 2:20 p.m. CST
HP Pavilion
San Jose, Calif.
CBS
The Murray State Racers had their second media day at the NCAA Tournament West Regional putting the thrilling upset of Vanderbilt in their rear view mirror as they prepare for the second round match with the Butler Bulldogs in San Jose, Calif.
The No. 13 seed Racers take on the No. 5 seed Bulldogs in a 2:20 p.m. central time tip at HP Pavilion.
CLICK HERE for MSU NCAA Central
Since his buzzer shot against Vanderbilt that made the Racers a winner in the Big Dance for the first time in 22 years, Danero Thomas has been a media darling making appearances on many national programs including ESPN's SportsCenter.
Today though, the MSU senior was all business.
"I've had so many messages and calls on my cell phone from family and friends and everybody's excited after a shot like that, it has been crazy," Thomas said. "But now we're getting ready for the next game and we're focused on Butler."
MSU head coach Billy Kennedy likewise has seen an avalanche of well wishes since the Racers shocked the Commodores.
"There were a lot of congratulations coming in," Kennedy said. "I literally had more than 150 texts and phone calls, plus another 100 emails. Our guys think they can win any time they step on the floor and I've fed off of that more than anything."
The Racers will try to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and if successful would play next week in Salt Lake City, Utah in the region semi-finals against the winner of the upper part of the west bracket. No. 1 seed Syracuse takes on No. 16 Vermont and No. 8 Gonzaga faces No. 9 Florida State in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Racers face Butler for the fourth time since their first meeting in 1967. The Bulldogs won the last meeting by an 85-70 final at MSU in 1976 and MSU leads the series 2-1.
Butler is coming off their own first round win Thursday when they defeated UTEP the 12th seed 77-59 and pushed their record to 29-4 and increased the nation's longest winning streak to 21 straight.
One question fired at the Racers was if they've played their best yet this season.
"As a team, we never feel we've played our best," Thomas said.
And Isacc Miles felt the same way saying, "I don't think so, because the best game you could have would be to shoot 100 percent."
The Racers will attempt to keep their amazing season alive Saturday.
GAME NOTES
The traditional NCAA issue of Sports Illustrated is out featuring a photo of every team in the field of the 2010 event. MSU's Isaiah Canaan is featured in the lower right corner. CLICK HERE to see the cover.
The Racers' win over Vanderbilt was the second in team history in the NCAA and brings to mind quite a few notes to mention.
It was MSU's first win over an SEC team since Christmas Day 1997 when the Racers beat Arkansas in Puerto Rico and their first over Vanderbilt since 1946.
The win was the first for an Ohio Valley Conference team over an SEC team since 2000 when Tennessee Tech defeated South Carolina.
The Racers scored their first win over an SEC team in the NCAA Tournament after losing in the first round three times: Alabama (1991), Arkansas (1992) and Georgia (2002).
The win came 22 years to the day since their last against North Carolina State March 18, 1988.
The win was the 22nd for a 13 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman Ed Daniel set career highs in rebounds (6), free throw attempts (8) and assists (1).
MSU set their NCAA team single-game record with four blocked shots. The old mark was against Rhode Island in 1998.
Danero Thomas set a single-game NCAA mark for the team with three blocked shots. James Singleton had two against Georgia in 2002.
MSU moved to 5-0 this season on a neutral floor with wins over James Madison, North Carolina Central, Eastern Illinois, Morehead State and now Vanderbilt.
The win was MSU's first one-point victory since an 86-85 win over Southeast Missouri in January of 2008, a span of 79 games.
It was Billy Kennedy's fourth NCAA win overall and first as a head coach.
MSU moved to 28-0 this season when having the lead with five minutes remaining and 27-0 when leading with two minutes left.
MSU is 26-0 when holding opponents to less than 45 percent field goal shooting, they held VU to 44 percent.
Tony Easley's streak of 32 straight games in which he had recorded a blocked shot ended.
