Showman Morant Dazzles But Racers Fall At Alabama

Monday, November 26

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m.

Murray State

3-1

Alabama

5-1

Murray State

Alabama

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

11/26/2018 6:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Ja Morant scored 38 points, but the Racers couldn't overcome a slow-shooting first half in a 78-72 defeat Monday against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

The Racers (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season and return home Saturday to host Prairie View A&M at the CFSB Center in a 7 p.m. tip.

With more than 30 NBA scouts attending the game, in part to see Ja Morant, the MSU sophomore put on a show that had the home crowd cheering him when he capped the night with two thunderous dunks to total a career-high 38 points on 16-of-29 shooting. Morant added five assists and nine rebounds.

After suffering 36 percent shooting in the first half, the Racers led early 9-4, but were trailing 39-29 at the half.

MSU started the second half hot when they got a 3-pointer from Tevin Brown for a 7-0 run to make it a 39-37 game only 1:21 into the half. MSU took the lead 44-43 on a fast break basket by Morant at the 15:36 mark. At the 10-minute mark, the Racers went back in front 52-51 on a Morant rebound and score, but Bama went on a 6-0 run with 8:16 remaining the Racers never recovered. Morant hit a pair of free throws with 1:41 left to make a 67-64 game, but MSU never got the chance to tie it.

Morant was MSU's only double-figure scorer, followed by Buchanan with nine points and seven rebounds.

Game Notes
Two of the youngest guards in the nation went at it tonight at Coleman Coliseum. Murray State's Ja Morant (19 years old) and Alabama's Kira Lewis, Jr. (17 years old). Lewis was also good with 20 points scored.

Morant's 38-point performance puts him in rare company among the top scoring games in MSU history. It's tied for 12^th all-time with other 38-point games by Madison Stanford (1949 vs TTU), Jeff Martin (1989 vs EKU) and Frank Allen (1990 vs WKU). Morant's game is the best for the Racers since the 41 points Jonathan Stark scored against TTU in the 2017 OVC Tournament. MSU's top game is still 45 points by Marcus Brown against Washington (MO) in 1995.

The game marked the fourth-straight season the Racers have faced a Southeastern Conference team following Georgia (2015), Ole Miss (2016) and Auburn (2017). MSU's last win against an SEC foe was in 2012 at the Charleston Classic against Auburn. The Racers travel to play Auburn on Dec. 22.

Prior to the game, the Racers were leading the nation in four categories, albeit very early in the season. MSU was getting 22.3 assists per game and had only 10 tonight. They had the fewest personal fouls at 55, but had 22 tonight and they were first in scoring margin (33.3) but suffered their first loss. MSU was first in 3-point defense at 14 percent for opponents, they did a good job tonight holding Alabama to 27 percent on 5-of-18.