Murray State University Athletics
Thursday, March 15
Louisville
11:15 a.m.
Murray State
58
vs
41
Colorado State
Photo by: Tab Brockman
Racers Turn Up Defense in NCAA Tournament Victory 58-41 Over CSU
3/15/2012 1:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (pdf) | 1st HALF PHOTOS | 2nd HALF PHOTOS
POSTGAME QUOTES
The Murray State Racers got their 2012 NCAA Tournament off to a great start Thursday with a 58-41 win over Colorado State at the Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
The No. 6 seeded Racers move into Saturday's third round where they'll meet the winner of No. 3 seed Marquette and No. 14 seed BYU.
MSU was led by 15 points and seven rebounds from Isaiah Canaan, and 13 points from Donte Poole.
The Racers (31-1) trailed by a point at the half, used their rugged defense and transition offense to start the second half on a 18-2 run to make sure they would advance to the NCAA third round for the second time in the last three seasons.
The run started when MSU came up with four straight stops on defense that led to a Canaan steal and slam and a hoop by Ed Daniel. After the Racers' fifth steal of the game, Zay Jackson hit a three and MSU led 39-26 with 12:38 remaining.
The Racers increased the advantage to 15 points on a jumper by Poole with 9:13 remaining. The Rams threatened to make a run as they scored six-straight points, but Ivan Aska put an end to the run with a turnaround jumper in the paint.
MSU slowed the game over the final five minutes and started hitting their free throws to keep the advantage in double figures. After a slow start at the line, the Racers closed the game by going 8-for-12 down the stretch for the final margin.
The defensive intensity in the second half limited the Rams to just 17 points on just 7-of-25 shooting, including going 0-for-7 from behind the arc.
Game Notes
The Racers 31 wins ties the program record that was set recently in the 2009-10 season when Billy Kennedy's Racers were 31-5. Kennedy, now the head coach at Texas A&M, was in attendance today at the KFC Yum! Center.
MSU has faced Marquette only one time in their 87-season history and that was in the NCAA Tournament in 1969. The Racers, under Coach Cal Luther lost to MU 82-62 at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill. MSU has faced BYU three times in their history with all coming in the 1950's also under Coach Luther. MSU is 1-2 all-time against the Cougars.
MSU Head Coach Steve Prohm is the first rookie coach in program history to win his first game in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU now has wins this season over five teams in this season's NCAA Tournament: Colorado State, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, Memphis and Saint Mary's.
The Racers are now 3-14 all-time in 15 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, 2-1 since 2010.
MSU set some program records for the NCAA Tournament. MSU's 26 attempted free throws in the game broke the former mark was 25 against Georgia in 2002. Their five blocks broke the record of four from 2010 against Vanderbilt.
POSTGAME QUOTES
The Murray State Racers got their 2012 NCAA Tournament off to a great start Thursday with a 58-41 win over Colorado State at the Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
The No. 6 seeded Racers move into Saturday's third round where they'll meet the winner of No. 3 seed Marquette and No. 14 seed BYU.
MSU was led by 15 points and seven rebounds from Isaiah Canaan, and 13 points from Donte Poole.
The Racers (31-1) trailed by a point at the half, used their rugged defense and transition offense to start the second half on a 18-2 run to make sure they would advance to the NCAA third round for the second time in the last three seasons.
The run started when MSU came up with four straight stops on defense that led to a Canaan steal and slam and a hoop by Ed Daniel. After the Racers' fifth steal of the game, Zay Jackson hit a three and MSU led 39-26 with 12:38 remaining.
The Racers increased the advantage to 15 points on a jumper by Poole with 9:13 remaining. The Rams threatened to make a run as they scored six-straight points, but Ivan Aska put an end to the run with a turnaround jumper in the paint.
MSU slowed the game over the final five minutes and started hitting their free throws to keep the advantage in double figures. After a slow start at the line, the Racers closed the game by going 8-for-12 down the stretch for the final margin.
The defensive intensity in the second half limited the Rams to just 17 points on just 7-of-25 shooting, including going 0-for-7 from behind the arc.
Game Notes
The Racers 31 wins ties the program record that was set recently in the 2009-10 season when Billy Kennedy's Racers were 31-5. Kennedy, now the head coach at Texas A&M, was in attendance today at the KFC Yum! Center.
MSU has faced Marquette only one time in their 87-season history and that was in the NCAA Tournament in 1969. The Racers, under Coach Cal Luther lost to MU 82-62 at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill. MSU has faced BYU three times in their history with all coming in the 1950's also under Coach Luther. MSU is 1-2 all-time against the Cougars.
MSU Head Coach Steve Prohm is the first rookie coach in program history to win his first game in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU now has wins this season over five teams in this season's NCAA Tournament: Colorado State, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, Memphis and Saint Mary's.
The Racers are now 3-14 all-time in 15 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, 2-1 since 2010.
MSU set some program records for the NCAA Tournament. MSU's 26 attempted free throws in the game broke the former mark was 25 against Georgia in 2002. Their five blocks broke the record of four from 2010 against Vanderbilt.
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