The Place To Be - The Bank For Racers vs Purple Aces - Murray State University Athletics

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Evansville Purple Aces (6-1) at Murray State Racers (5-3)
Head Coaches: Marty Simmons (Evansville 1987) Career Record: 230-208 (15th season) At UE: 132-135 (9th season). Matt McMahon (Appalachian State, 2000) Career Record: 5-3 (1st season) At MSU: Same

Date-Time: Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. Site: Murray, Ky. Arena: CFSB Center
TV: None Radio: Racer Radio - WFGE 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Kenny Roth
Web Streaming: Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com Video: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: MurrayState.StatBroadcast.com Twitter In Game: @RacersHoops @RacerDave23

Series: Overall: Racers lead 25-10 Home: Racers lead 14-3 Away: Racers lead 11-7 Neutral: None
Last Meeting: 2014, MSU won away 81-79 First Meeting: 1943, MSU won home 60-36

Next: Racers: Dec. 13 at Illinois State Aces: Dec. 8 at Arkansas

The Murray State Racers (5-3) are back at home in the CFSB Center for a Saturday tilt with the Evansville Purple Aces (6-1). Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. in Murray, Ky. All Murray State games are heard over free radio on WFGE Froggy 103.7 FM and online at Froggy103.com and GoRacers.com. Neal Bradley is in his 25th season as the Voice of the Racers. Former MSU assistant coach Kenny Roth provides commentary. Streaming video of the game is offered free online at OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

The Racers are coming off a 93-78 loss Wednesday at Houston in a game where they put up their best offensive performance of the season against a D-I team, but fell off on the defensive end against the very talented Cougars. MSU's Wayne Langston and Bryce Jones carded double-doubles, while Gee McGhee put up a team-high 17 points. Jeffery Moss, who has hit a 3-point basket in all eight games, scored 14 points. Recently joining the MSU 1000-Point Club, Moss has 49 games of 10-plus points in 106 career games.
Since the Racers and Purple Aces resumed their regional series, they've had some tremendously entertaining games including last season when Jonathan Fairell hit a runner down the lane with only seconds remaining to give MSU the win. The Racers lead the all-time series with Evansville 25-10 including a 14-3 mark at home. UE's last win at MSU was in 1991 in old Racer Arena.

The Racers face an Evansville squad that has plenty of offensive firepower as they're ranked fifth in NCAA D-1 in field goal percentage at .528. Guard D.J. Ballentine is a top-30 scorer nationally at 20.8 points per game, while Egidijus Mockevicius is third in the nation in rebounding.

The Racers counter with a defense that was ranked 74th in the nation at the start of the week. Murray State certainly doesn't give away points either, they're ranked 84th in allowing only 11.9 turnovers per game. Wayne Langston is 27th in the nation hitting more than 63 percent of his shots and guard Bryce Jones is 27th in the nation with a free throw percentage of .913.

Fresh off their best November since the 2012, the Racers now face a gauntlet of top-notch opponents leading to the Christmas break. Having already faced Houston and hosting Evansville Saturday, the Racers travel to Illinois State (Dec. 13), host Southern Illinois (Dec. 18) and play at Wright State (Dec. 22). It's no wonder MSU's schedule ranked 26th in the nation.

MSU enjoys one of the best home court advantages in the game and enter the UE game having won 18 straight at the CFSB Center. MSU's last loss was the season opener in 2014 to Houston. MSU's streak is the eighth-best home run in MSU history. The record of 47 (from 1996-00) still stands as the best all-time in program history.

The Place To Be - The Bank For Racers vs Purple Aces

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Players Mentioned

Jonathan Fairell

Bryce Jones

Wayne Langston

Gee McGhee

Jeffery Moss

Murray State University