Complete Effort Leads Racers Past EIU

Wednesday, March 2

Nashville, Tenn.

8 p.m.

Murray State

13-17

Eastern Illinois

17-13

Eastern Illinois

Murray State

Photo by: Tab Brockman

3/2/2016 8:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Murray State Racers advanced in the OVC Tournament with a 78-62 win in the first round over the Eastern Illinois Panthers Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

The win improved the sixth-seeded Racers to 17-13 and set them up with a quarterfinal matchup Thursday against third seed Morehead State. The tip off will happen at 8 p.m. after Austin Peay faces Tennessee State at 6 p.m.

Much like the Racers' home win over EIU in January, Wayne Langston was MSU's unstoppable force. With his teammates feeding him in the post, Langston made 10-of-14 shots and finished with a game-high 22 points. Langston scored 24 and hit 10-of-14 against EIU in the first meeting (Jan. 21).

The Racer attack hit a season-best 61 percent from the field on 30-of-49. Their previous best was at SEMO (Feb. 4) when they were at 57 percent on 32-of-56.

In the first half, Langston got going early and hit 5-of-7 to start the game. His post-up score with 12:14 before half gave MSU an 18-6 lead.

The Racers hit a cold streak at the end of the first half. They only field goals they had were Seymour's 3-point basket at 4:20 and again with 1.3 left. The Racers were 11-of-12 from the line in the first half and led 43-29 at intermission.

Game Notes

The Racers met the Panthers for the first time in the OVC Tournament since they met in the semifinals in 2010. With the win, MSU has a 5-1 all-time lead on EIU in the postseason.

With the win, the Racers are now 14-8 all-time in Municipal Auditorium. MSU's all-time record in the OVC Tournament is now 64-35. MSU improved to 26-10 all-time in first round/quarterfinal games.