Racers Win 20th - Survive JSU Upset Bid 60-59 - Murray State University Athletics

Saturday, February 12

CFSB Center

7:30 p.m.

Murray State

Jacksonville State

Photo by: Tab Brockman

Racers Win 20th - Survive JSU Upset Bid 60-59

2/12/2011 11:56:09 PM | Men's Basketball

Boxscore

Boxscore(PDF)

The Murray State Racers won for the 20^th time Saturday when they defeated visiting Jacksonville State 60-59 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.

The win marked MSU's 24^th all-time 20-win campaign in 86 seasons and it kept them in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 12-3. MSU is 20-6 overall and pushed their winning streak to eight straight.

However, the win didn't come easy as MSU battled a JSU team (5-22, 3-13 OVC) that is fighting for a spot in the upcoming OVC Tournament.

Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, MSU managed to cut it to a 32-29 deficit at intermission when Isacc Miles hit a pair of free throws and a driving layup.

JSU pushed their lead back to six at 41-37 at the 13:00 mark of the second half when MSU awakened with a big run that decided the game.

Isaiah Canaan hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 11:39, and then MSU took its first lead of the contest at 46-45 when Miles hit a three with 7:14 remaining. B.J. Jenkins and Ed Daniel added baskets to give MSU a 16-2 run over a 7:46 segment and their largest lead of the game at seven when it was 52-45 with 5:14 left.

Canaan and Miles each hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds as MSU survived a three-point bank shot with 1.4 seconds left by JSU's B.J. Miller that provided the final score.

Canaan led MSU with 17 points with Miles scoring 13.

NOTES
This 20-win season is the second straight and second in five seasons for MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy and he's also the seventh straight coach at MSU to record at least two 20-win seasons. The streak started with Ron Greene (1978-79) and has continued through Steve Newton (1985-91), Scott Edgar (1992-95), Mark Gottfried (1995-98), Tevester Anderson (1998-03), Mick Cronin (2003-06) and now Kennedy. MSU's first coach, Carlisle Cutchin (1925-41) is still the all-time leader with four 20-win campaigns.

MSU started the night with one of the best records in 2011 and are now 11-2. Charleston is the only undefeated team since Jan. 1 at 12-0 after beating Winthrop today 61-56.

The Racers are now 156-27 (.852) in 13 seasons of the CFSB Center and 96-18 (.842) in OVC play. MSU is 37-4 (.902) in Billy Kennedy's last three seasons.

Before the game, Coach Kennedy was given a commemorative ball to mark his 100^th win at Murray State. The milestone victory came when the Racers defeated 74-65 (Feb. 3).

The Racers play their final road game of the OVC season when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and face Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center. The game will air live on the Racer TV Network. MSU won the first meeting between the team at the CFSB Center Jan. 22 by a 96-58 score.