Racers Battle Auburn Saturday

Saturday, December 22

Auburn, Ala.

3:30 p.m.

Murray State

Auburn

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

12/19/2018 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

MSU Game Notes AU Game Notes

Live Stats I Live Video I Live Audio

MURRAY STATE RACERS (8-1, 0-0 Ohio Valley)
Head Coach: Matt McMahon (Appalachian State, 2000)
Career Record: 67-38 (4th season) • At MUR: Same • OVC: 34-16

(#7) AUBURN TIGERS (9-2, 0-0 Southeastern)
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl (Boston College, 1982)
Career Record: 541-208 (24th season) • At AU: 79-63 (5th)

Date: Dec. 22 Time: 3:30 p.m. CT Site: Auburn, Ala. Arena: Auburn Arena Radio: Racer Radio - WFGE 103.7 FM - PXP-Neal Bradley, Analyst-Kenny Roth TV: SEC Network - PXP-Dave Neal (PXP), Analyst - Pat Bradley Online Video: WatchESPN Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com Live Stats: SidearmStats Twitter: @MSURacers @RacersHoops @RacerDave23
Series: MSU trails 1-4 Home: MSU trails 0-1 Away: MSU trails 0-2 Neutral: MSU leads 1-0 Last Meeting: 2017 Home MSU lost 81-77 MSU Last: Tuesday home won 66-64 over Evansville. AU Last: Wed Loss at NC State 71-78 MSU Next: Dec. 29 home Bethel (TN) MSU next away: Jan. 10 at UT Martin AU Next: Dec. 29 home vs North Florida AU Next Away: Jan. 9 at Ole Miss

Facing a top-10 team for the first time since the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the Murray State Racers (8-1) take on the No. 7 Auburn Tigers (9-2) Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. tip at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. The SEC Network will air the game on television and 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 WatchESPN.com.

The Racers are coming off a 66-64 home win Tuesday over Evansville in a game in which they trailed at the five-minute and two-minute marks, but still managed to claw back and win when Ja Morant scored with .6 seconds on the clock. The win gave the Racers a 15-game home winning streak since their last loss on their home floor to Auburn (Dec. 19, 2017).
The game marked the first for an SEC team to visit MSU since 1993.

The Racers have already faced one SEC team this season when they pushed Alabama (Nov. 26) before falling 78-72. Sophomore sensation Ja Morant scored 38 points, just part of an outstanding season to date, which included one of 15 NCAA D-I triple-double games when he had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists against Missouri State (Nov. 24). Going into the game at Auburn, Morant is first in NCAA D-I with 9.6 assists per game. He leads the Ohio Valley Conference and is 18th in the nation with 22.8 points per game.

The Racers are defending at a high level in Coach Matt McMahon's fourth season as they lead the nation in 3-point field goal defense. Through nine games, opponents are only hitting 22 percent against the Racers (33-of-153). The best anyone has been able to do against the Racers was six made threes by Prairie View (Dec. 1) and by Evansville on Tuesday.

After the Christmas break, the Racers return to action at home against Bethel (TN) on Dec. 29. MSU opens OVC play at home with Morehead State (Jan. 3) and Southeast Missouri (Jan. 5).