Seniors Carry The Day - Moss Scores 33 - Murray State University Athletics

Saturday, February 27

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

16-13 (10-6OVC)

UT Martin

18-13 (10-6OVC)

UT Martin

Murray State

Photo by: Tab Brockman

Seniors Carry The Day - Moss Scores 33

2/27/2016 2:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Seniors carried the day for the Murray State Racers Saturday when they closed out the regular season with a resounding 79-55 win over the UT Martin Skyhawks at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.

Before the game, seniors Terron Gilmore, Wayne Langston and Jeffery Moss were honored on the court with their families as the largest crowd of the season (5,412) soaked up the vibes.

Moss led the way with 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting and 8-of-11 from 3-point range as MSU clinched their 29^th straight winning season as they improved to 16-13. MSU's streak is tied with UConn and behind only Syracuse (47), Kansas (33) and Arizona (32).

When the ball went up, Moss had the best night of his career in his 98^th straight start and 127th game.

His first three put MSU ahead 14-4 and MSU eventually grew it to 28-17 when Moss hit another long bomb 3:15 before half. Moss' fourth 3-point basket of the first half with 13-seconds remaining gave the Racers a 36-22 lead at intermission.

The lefty senior from Madison, Alabama hit another three to start the second half for a 39-23 lead.

He hit his sixth three at the 16:28 mark, and then added two more to get to within one of MSU's all-time single-game 3-point record. Justin Burdine hit nine 3-point baskets in 2002 against Eastern Kentucky, also at the CFSB Center.

Late in the game, the largest cheer went up for Gilmore when he made a basket and got fouled with 25-seconds remaining. It was a fitting way for the night to end. Gilmore was also given his first start of his career.

The MSU senior trio combined for 53 points with Moss' 33, Langston's 18 and two from Gilmore.

The Racers finished 10-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference and go into next week's OVC Tournament as the No. 6 seed. MSU meets No. 7 seed Eastern Illinois Wednesday (March 2) at 8 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The winner will meet No. 3 seed Morehead State Thursday (March 3) at 8 p.m.

Game Notes
The Racers lead the all-time series with UTM 46-5 and is 25-1 at home. This was the 18^th season of Murray State Basketball played at the CFSB Center since it was opened in 1998. MSU is 221-38 (.853) all-time at the CFSB Center.

Moss became just the fourth player in MSU history to hit at least eight 3-point baskets in a single game. The aforementioned Justin Burdine still holds the record of nine from 2002 against EKU. James Singleton and Don Mann each hit eight threes. Singleton's game was at home against Eastern Illinois in 2003 and Mann's was against Tennessee State in Nashville in 1989. The NCAA started the 3-point shot in 1986.

Neal Bradley was honored for his 25 seasons as the voice of Murray State athletics on Racer Radio. Director of Athletics Allen Ward surprised Bradley during the first timeout of the second half.

Late Saturday afternoon, the Burton Family Hall of Champions was opened for fans and friends of Bennie Purcell to see his sons Mel and Del and pay respects to the recently deceased Racer Great. Bennie passed away at the age of 86 on Feb. 12. The sight of so many Racer greats, including many that are in the MSU Hall of Fame, coupled with several former coaches and players at MSU, made for an amazing time to celebrate Coach Purcell's life.