Racers' Ninth Straight Win Comes In OVC Opener

Saturday, January 3

Morehead, KY

6:30 p.m.

Murray State

11-4, 1-0OVC

Morehead State

5-11, 0-1OVC

Murray State

Morehead State

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

1/3/2015 8:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Ohio Valley Conference season began with a road win Saturday for the Murray State Racers with a 66-57 victory over the Morehead State Eagles at Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.

The Racers (11-4, 1-0 OVC) have won seven-straight OVC openers and moved their current win streak to nine in a row. The Eagles fell to 5-11 and 0-1 in the OVC.

Jeffery Moss scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Jarvis Williams and Cameron Payne each scored 12 points for the Racers.

MSU used some big moments of tenacity and toughness to win the OVC opener which begins a three-game road swing to start league play.

MSU led by 11 points when Moss made a shot just inside the mid-court line as the shot clock ran out to give the Racers their largest lead of the day with 7:10 remaining. The Eagles made a run to cut the lead to three points before Justin Seymour made a steal and hit a 3-pointer. His only field goal of the game gave the Racers a 56-50 lead with 3:56 left. Williams added a three-point play with 2:38 left to extend the lead to nine.

The Racers were only 4-of-13 from long range, but scored inside the 3-point line enough to finish the game with a total shooting night of 51 percent on 22-of-43. MSU was 11-of-19 in the second half for 58 percent. The defense forced the Eagles into 33percent from the field on 17-of-52 shots including 5-of-23 from the 3-point range.

Murray State lost the rebound battle 37-30, but managed to force Morehead into 17 turnovers which matched a tough shooting night that produced only 17 field goals.

The Racers led 31-26 at the half.

MSU gets back on the court next week with a Thursday game at Tennessee Tech (Jan. 8) in Cookeville, Tenn. The Racers vs TTU is their longest-running series having been played 171 times. MSU leads the series 124-47 and have won the last five.

Game Notes
The Racers are off and running into the OVC season with tonight's win. The numbers for the Racers concerning OVC openers and Morehead State read like this. MSU is 9-6 all-time in openers vs the Eagles and have won eight straight. Overall, MSU is 49-18 (.718) all-time in OVC openers and have won seven straight. MSU is 21-13 (.606) all-time in road games and have won eight straight. Since 1997, the Racers are 18-1 in OVC openers.

Cameron Payne got closer to joining the MSU 1000-Point Club as did Jeffery Moss and Jarvis Williams. Payne now has 839 career points while Moss has 744 and Williams 736.

Moss' 20-point performance was his second in three games and the eighth of his career.

MSU hit some big free throws down the stretch. In the clutch this season the Racers are 13-16 for 81 percent. These are in games in the final two minutes and the Racer lead is 10 points or less.

MSU led 31-26 at half tonight and are 8-1 this season when doing so. MSU is 64-9 in the Coach Prohm era.

MSU's road win streak is three after wins at Evansville, Southern Illinois and Morehead State. MSU is 4-1 this season.