Racers Roll Past UTEP Into NIT 2nd Round

Tuesday, March 17

CFSB Center

8 p.m.

Murray State

28-5

UTEP

22-13

UTEP

Murray St.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

3/17/2015 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Murray State Racers advanced in the National Invitation Tournament Tuesday when they won a first-round game over the UTEP Miners, 81-66, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The win put the Racers into a second round game at Tulsa, who defeated William & Mary at home, 70-67. The Racers will play at Tulsa with the game date and time being announced soon.

The Racers got a double-double from Jarvis Williams with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while T.J. Sapp tossed in 21. Cameron Payne flirted with a triple-double with 14 points,10 assists and seven rebounds.

The Racers improved to 28-5 and won their 15^th straight home game.

Leading 37-32 at half, the Racers turned on the speed and hit UTEP with a 13-2 run and built a 50-34 lead when Sapp nailed a 3-pointer with 16:16 left.

MSU matched their 16-point lead at 4:45 when Williams hit a pair of free throws.

The win for MSU was their first NIT home win and their first overall win in the tournament since beating Alabama under head coach Ron Greene in 1980.

Tuesday, March 17

No. 3 Rhode Island 88, No. 6 Iona 75
No. 2 Miami (FL) 75, No. 7 North Carolina Central 71
No. 5 George Washington 60, No. 4 Pittsburgh 54
No. 3 Louisiana Tech 89, No. 6 Central Michigan 79
No. 2 Tulsa 70, No. 7 William & Mary 67
No. 6 Alabama 79, No. 3 Illinois 58
No. 3 Murray State 81, No. 6 UTEP 66
No. 2 Texas A&M 81, No. 7 Montana 64
No. 2 Stanford 77, No. 7 UC Davis 64

Wednesday, March 18

No. 5 Arizona State at No. 4 Connecticut, 7 p.m., ESPN2
No. 8 Bucknell at No. 1 Temple, 7 p.m., ESPN3
No. 8 Charleston Southern at No. 1 Old Dominion, 7:15 p.m., ESPN3
No. 8 St. Francis-Brooklyn at No. 1 Richmond, 7:30 p.m., ESPN3
No. 5 Green Bay at No. 4 Illinois State, 8 p.m., ESPNU
No. 5 Vanderbilt at No. 4 St. Mary's, 9 p.m., ESPN2
No. 8 South Dakota State at No. 1 Colorado State, 10 p.m., ESPNU