MSU's 93rd Season Opens Saturday Against Wright State

Date: Nov. 10 Time: 7 p.m. CT Site: Murray, Ky. Arena: CFSB Center
Radio: Racer Radio - Froggy 103.7 FM - PXP-Neal Bradley, Analyst Kenny Roth
TV: None
Web Streaming Video: ESPN+ Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Twitter: @MSURacers @RacersHoops @RacerDave23
Series: WSU leads 4-1 Home: WSU leads 0-1 Away: WSU leads 2-1 Neutral: WSU leads 0-1 Last MSU Win: 2017 at WSU 80-61
MSU Next: 11-10 home vs Spalding WSU Next: 11-14 home vs Toledo

The 93rd season of collegeiate basketball for the Murray State Racers commences Saturday with the 21st season of hoops in the CFSB Center when the Racers host the Wright State Raiders in a 7 p.m. tip on the Racers' home court in Murray, Kentucky.

Froggy 103 (WFGS 103.7 FM) airs every MSU game with "Voice of the Racers" Neal Bradley calling the action in his 28th season. Former MSU assistant coach Kenny Roth provides commentary. Froggy103.com and GoRacers.com has free online streaming audio. The game can also be seen online at ESPN+.

After meeting only twice in 18 seasons, the Racers and Raiders are staging their fourth-straight game since 2015. The Racers picked up their first win in the series in five meetings last season with a road win at WSU's Nutter Center by an 80-61 score. Murray State first met Wright State in 1990 and again at the San Juan Shootout in 2008.

The Racers have won 19-of-20 home openers at the CFSB Center with the only blemish being a 77-74 thriller to the Houston Cougars in 2014. Against NCAA D-I teams, the Racers have won 5-of-6 home openers with the last also being a thriller with the Racers beating Illinois State at the buzzer in 2016. The Racers are at home for a fifth-straight season opener since they opened at Valparaiso in 2013.

Murray State's exhibition tune up occured Monday when the Racers hosted Brescia and won 99-61. The Racers put 11 players in the scoring column led by Ja Morant with 17 points. Tevin Brown and Shaq Buchanan each tossed in 15 and Brion Whitley scored 13. Anthony Smith, Brion Whitley and Darnell Cowart all grabbed six rebounds. The Racers also shared the ball in recording 28 assists on their 42 field goals and they scored 64 points in the paint to go with 32 points on fast breaks.

Certainly, a player can only make a debut at Murray State once. The Racers have had some memorable debuts in recent seasons including the one that Jonathan Stark turned in against Illinois State in 2016 where he scored 19 points and hit the game winning shot with two seconds remaining. Other recent MSU debuts includes MSU's pair of current NBA players Isaiah Canaan (2009 at California with eight points) and Cameron Payne (2013 at Valparaiso with 21 points). Bruce Carter had a 19-point effort in Coach Billy Kennedy's first Murray State at Saint Mary's (CA) in 2006. Incidentally, the Racers lost that game when Aztec guard Brandon Heath hit a halfcourt shot.

There are 64 NCAA D-I games on the Saturday schedule and the Wright State at Murray State clash is only one of two matchups that involve two NCAA Tournament participants from last March. The other is Texas Southern vs Gonzaga.

Coach Matt McMahon is leading the Racers into his fourth season opener and all have come at the CFSB Center. His three previous openers included a home win over Brescia (118-61) in 2017, a home win over Illinois State (73-70) in 2016 and a home win over Harris-Stowe (105-55) in 2015.

Wright State opened the season at home Wednesday with a 96-73 win over Western Carolina. Bill Wampler had the hot hand with 26 points, including five three pointers. Loudon Love scored 17 points with seven rebounds and Skyelar Potter hit for 16 points.

The early part of the season finds the Racers enjoying their first three games at home. MSU stays at home to take on Spalding (Nov. 16) before Missouri State comes to town (Nov. 24) for a Saturday game after Thanksgiving.

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Players Mentioned

Tevin Brown

Shaq Buchanan

Isaiah Canaan

Darnell Cowart

Ja Morant

Anthony Smith

Jonathan Stark

Brion Whitley

Murray State University