Murray State University Athletics

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Racers & Auburn Decided In Late Game Plays
12/19/2017 6:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers took the Auburn Tigers to the end, but fell 81-77 in front of the largest crowd since 2013 at the CFSB Center as a Southeastern Conference team visited Murray, Kentucky for the first time since 1993.
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The Racers had their four-game home streak snapped to fall to 7-3, while the Tigers improved to 10-1.
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Trailing 42-36 coming out of halftime, the Racers Jonathan Stark got hot and scored 14 points in the first six minutes on 4-of-4 from 3-point range, but Auburn held a 55-52 lead with 14:30 left. The Racers took their first lead since the first half with 8:05 left on a pair of free throws from Ja Morant to make it 60-58.
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With the Racers leading 67-66 with 4:14 left, the Tigers got separation on the shooting of Jared Harper. He hit a trio of 3-pointers for a 75-71 Auburn lead as the clock ticked under two minutes when the third one dropped. It was a blow the Racers couldn't recover from in the little time left and they never got the game back to having a possession to either tie or regain the lead.
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The Racers broke from the gate in fine fashion with a 12-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes. Auburn took its first lead with 9:11 before half at 20-18. Trailing by seven in the final 2:30, the Racers got three baskets from Jalen Dupree to keep it a six-point deficit at the intermission.
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Terrell Miller, Jr., and Stark led the way for the Racers. Miller had a double-double by halftime and ended the day with 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while Stark hit four-straight 3-point shots to start the second half to end with 21 points. Stark added a career-high five steals. The Racers also got 10 points each from Dupree and Shaq Buchanan. His eight rebounds were a career-high.
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Game Notes
The Racers are now 1-4 all-time against Auburn and 12-31 all-time against teams from the SEC.
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The 6,478 that watched the game at the CFSB Center represented the largest crowd at The Bank since a crowd of 7,489 showed up to see Isaiah Canaan and Ed Daniel's senior night against SEMO on March 2, 2013. It was the first 6,000-plus crowd since UT Martin visited on Jan. 30, 2015 and 6,302 watched.
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Jonathan Stark scored 21 points tonight and has 881 in his MSU career. Terrell Miller has 703 after his 24-point performance tonight.
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Miller, who was 8-of-8 from the field Saturday against Marist and 5-of-5 from 3-point range, kept it going tonight by hitting his first two shots, both threes, against Auburn. That means over one game and about eight minutes of another, he was 10-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the 3-point line.
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Ja Morant started the night 16th in NCAA D-I and second among freshmen in assists per game at 6.7. He helped the Racers along tonight with five assists.
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The Racers play their final game before Christmas Friday at Detroit Mercy. Tip time at Calihan Hall in Detroit, Michigan is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The Titans are 4-8 after dropping an 81-73 defeat at home tonight against East Tennessee State.
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The Racers had their four-game home streak snapped to fall to 7-3, while the Tigers improved to 10-1.
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Trailing 42-36 coming out of halftime, the Racers Jonathan Stark got hot and scored 14 points in the first six minutes on 4-of-4 from 3-point range, but Auburn held a 55-52 lead with 14:30 left. The Racers took their first lead since the first half with 8:05 left on a pair of free throws from Ja Morant to make it 60-58.
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With the Racers leading 67-66 with 4:14 left, the Tigers got separation on the shooting of Jared Harper. He hit a trio of 3-pointers for a 75-71 Auburn lead as the clock ticked under two minutes when the third one dropped. It was a blow the Racers couldn't recover from in the little time left and they never got the game back to having a possession to either tie or regain the lead.
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The Racers broke from the gate in fine fashion with a 12-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes. Auburn took its first lead with 9:11 before half at 20-18. Trailing by seven in the final 2:30, the Racers got three baskets from Jalen Dupree to keep it a six-point deficit at the intermission.
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Terrell Miller, Jr., and Stark led the way for the Racers. Miller had a double-double by halftime and ended the day with 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while Stark hit four-straight 3-point shots to start the second half to end with 21 points. Stark added a career-high five steals. The Racers also got 10 points each from Dupree and Shaq Buchanan. His eight rebounds were a career-high.
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Game Notes
The Racers are now 1-4 all-time against Auburn and 12-31 all-time against teams from the SEC.
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The 6,478 that watched the game at the CFSB Center represented the largest crowd at The Bank since a crowd of 7,489 showed up to see Isaiah Canaan and Ed Daniel's senior night against SEMO on March 2, 2013. It was the first 6,000-plus crowd since UT Martin visited on Jan. 30, 2015 and 6,302 watched.
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Jonathan Stark scored 21 points tonight and has 881 in his MSU career. Terrell Miller has 703 after his 24-point performance tonight.
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Miller, who was 8-of-8 from the field Saturday against Marist and 5-of-5 from 3-point range, kept it going tonight by hitting his first two shots, both threes, against Auburn. That means over one game and about eight minutes of another, he was 10-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the 3-point line.
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Ja Morant started the night 16th in NCAA D-I and second among freshmen in assists per game at 6.7. He helped the Racers along tonight with five assists.
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The Racers play their final game before Christmas Friday at Detroit Mercy. Tip time at Calihan Hall in Detroit, Michigan is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The Titans are 4-8 after dropping an 81-73 defeat at home tonight against East Tennessee State.
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Team Stats
AU
MUR
FG%
.422
.377
3FG%
.444
.375
FT%
.882
.696
RB
41
45
TO
12
11
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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Head Coach Jody Wright | Racer Football Post Game Press Conference | 10/18
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Head Coach Ryan Miller | Racer Men's Basketball | 10/13/2025 Press Conference
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