Regional Rivals Clash - Racers at Salukis Tuesday - Murray State University Athletics

MURRAY STATE RACERS (3-3)
Head Coach: Matt McMahon (Appalachian State, 2000)
Career Record: 20-17 (2nd season) • At MSU: Same

SIU SALUKIS (3-3)
Head Coach: Barry Hinson (Kansas, 1990)
Career Record: 270-210 (17th season) • At SIU: 65-70 (6th season)

Date-Time: Nov. 29 - 7 p.m. CT Site: Carbondale, Ill. Arena: SIU Arena
TV: None Radio: Racer Radio - WFGE 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Kenny Roth
Web Streaming: Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com Video: ESPN3 & SIUSalukis.com
Live Stats: SIUSalukis.com & StatBroadcast.com Twitter In Game: @RacersHoops @RacerDave23

Series History Overall: SIU leads 17-16 Home: MSU leads 9-7 Away: SIU leads 9-4 Neutral: SIU leads 3-1
Overtime: SIU leads 2-0, wins in 1929 & 1989 Trends: Racers have won last 2-of-3. SIU has won last 4-of-5 at home.
Last Game: 2015, SIU won at MSU 88-73 Last MSU Win: 2014, at SIU 83-71
MSU Next: Home (Dec. 3) Detroit SIU Next: Home (Dec. 3) Texas Southern

A pair of 3-3 teams meet Tuesday when the Murray State Racers travel to Carbondale to meet the Southern Illinois Salukis for the 34th time and for the third straight season. Tip time at the SIU arena is set for 7 p.m., when the Racers go for back-to-back wins at SIU after winning there in 2014.

Froggy 103 (WFGE 103.7 FM) airs every MSU game with "Voice of the Racers" Neal Bradley, in his 26th season and former MSU assistant coach Kenny Roth calling the action. Froggy103.com and GoRacers.com has free online streaming audio. The game will also be streamed on ESPN3.com.

The Racers are coming off a 91-54 home win Saturday over Alabama A&M, where MSU posted its second game of 90-plus points and held the opponent to a season-low 54 points. The Salukis played up to the Big-10 level on Friday at Minnesota. The Salukis dropped a low-scoring game 57-45.

A two-time Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week already, Tulane transfer guard Jonathan Stark is making his game known at Murray State through six games of his junior season. He's scoring 20.8 points per game (2nd in OVC, 48th in NCAA) and had a season-high 28 points against Bowling Green a week ago. He's shooting 51 percent from 3-point range and ranks fifth nationally in averaging 4.0 made threes per game. Stark is also finding his teammates with an average of 6.8 assists per game to rank 33rd in the nation.

The Racers are taking a lot of 3-point attempts and they're making them. Through six games, the Racers are 2nd in the OVC and 13th nationally with 64 made threes. In six games, the Racers have made 10-plus threes five times including a season-high 12 against Bowling Green. The Racers are 10th in the country as they're currently making 10.7 threes per game.

SIU won at MSU last season and the Racers won at SIU the year before in 2014, their first win at the SIU Arena since 1990 as they broke a four-game skid there. This game is being played for a third-straight season after the series was renewed after their last meeting in 2006.

As common opponents go, SIU lost at home to Wright State 85-81 (Nov. 11). The Raiders come to Murray for the final game before Christmas on Dec. 22. SIU also won at SIUE 101-83 (Nov. 18). The Cougars of course reside in the OVC West with the Racers and this season's two meetings happen at Edwardsville (Jan. 14) and at the CFSB Center. SIU and the Racers also count Evansville, UT Martin and Illinois State as common opponents. The Racers beat ISU on opening day 73-71 (Nov. 11) and have yet to play UE and UTM. There are 13 games this season between the OVC and Missouri Valley. The OVC is 1-3 so far with MSU's win over Illinois State being the win.

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Players Mentioned

Jonathan Stark