Payne & Sapp Push Racers Past SIU

Tuesday, December 17

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

5-5

Southern Illinois

2-8

Southern Illinios

Murray St.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

12/17/2013 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Cameron Payne scored 22 points and T.J. Sapp made his Murray State debut with 15 to lead the Racers to their third straight win in a 73-65 victory over Southern Illinois Tuesday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.

The win snapped a three-game skid for the Racers (5-5) against their regional rival with their first win over the Salukis (2-8) since a home win in 2003.

Leading 33-30 at the intermission, the Racers came out of the locker room and methodically built a sizable lead with contributions from several players.

Payne went coast-to-coast and Jeffery Moss finished a fast break. Moss was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two free throws and Payne scored again with an easy hoop off a steal. When Sapp scored a three-point play at the 15:46 mark, the Racers had their largest lead of the day at 12 (48-36). After SIU cut the lead to nine, Payne hit a straight-away 3-pointer and MSU led 56-43 with 11:17 left. The Racers eventually led by as many as 15 when Payne scored in the lane 6:40 mark for a 63-48 lead.

The Racers' 15-6 run in the first 4:15 of the second half featured five straight made shots.

MSU had a season-best against a D-I team, with a +11 margin in rebounding as they won the stat 40-29. Jarvis Williams led the way with 10 giving him his fifth double-digit game of the season.

The Racers also received solid production from Dexter Fields who just missed a double-double with eight points and six rebounds.

MSU jumped to a 6-0 lead early in the game on a pair of fast break finishes from Williams.

MSU's largest first half lead of 23-15 came at the 8:16 mark when Sapp hit his first field goal as a Racer on his second attempt. The 3-point basket helped Sapp score nine points in the first half. Sapp scored all nine points for the Racers from the 10:10 mark to 8:16.

Game Notes
With the win, the Racers have won three straight at home and have climbed back to the break-even mark at 5-5. MSU is 5-1 at home this season. MSU is now 187-33 (.850) all-time in 16 seasons at the CFSB Center and 78-11 (.876) against non-OVC teams.

Payne's 22 points bests the 21 he had in his debut (Nov. 8) at Valparaiso. He becomes the first MSU freshman to have two 20-point scoring games since Ivan Aska had two in the 2008-09 season. Aska was OVC Freshman of the Year in 2009 and Payne has become the leading candidate for the award this season. Payne also had seven assists and five rebounds.

T.J. Sapp made his MSU debut with 15 points. The junior transfer from Clemson played in his first game for MSU tonight after sitting out the last year according to NCAA rules.

MSU was 23-of-32 from the free throw line for nearly 72 percent, marking their best effort this season against a D-I opponent.

MSU had 13 offensive rebounds tonight and has a streak of three straight games with 10+.

MSU's 15 assists is a season-high against D-I team. MSU had 15 assists on 21 field goals.

The Racers and Salukis played for the first time since 2006 and SIU made their first trip to Murray since 2005. MSU broke a three-game losing skid to SIU tonight with their first win over the Salukis since 2003. SIU leads the all-time series 16-15. The game marked the start of a four-game series with MSU traveling to the SIU Arena next season.

MSU travels to Bowling Green, Ky. Saturday for their 151st meeting with old Ohio Valley Conference rival Western Kentucky. The Racer TV Network has its first telecast of the season in the 1 p.m. tip from Diddle Arena.