Racers Overwhelm SEMO For 4-0 OVC Start

Saturday, January 12

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

4:30 p.m.

Murray State

13-2, 4-0OVC

Southeast Missouri

6-11, 1-3OVC

Murray State

Southeast Missouri

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

1/12/2019 4:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers won for the fifth-straight time in an 85-67 victory over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

MSU (13-2, 4-0 OVC) has won 15 consecutive Ohio Valley Conference games overall and their last eight league road games.

The Racers had a balanced attack that netted 17 points and 14 assists from Ja Morant, while Shaq Buchanan added 13 points and Darnell Cowart 12 off the bench. Speaking of bench, the Racers had a solid game from a number of contributors including Mike Davis with eight points and Jaiveon Eaves and Brion Whitley each with seven points. The Racers ended the game with eight players scoring seven points or more.

It was a big second half that turned the game in MSU's favor when they started with a 20-9 run to get the game completely under their control. Cowart hit a pair of shots in the run as Mike Davis and Brion Whitley each hit 3-point baskets. The Racers biggest of the game came with 2:49 left when it was 83-60.

The Racers shot 59 percent from the field on 33-of-63 and held the Redhawks to 44 percent on 24-of-55. On the boards, MSU beat SEMO 41-25 as KJ Williams led the way with 10 rebounds.

The Racers continue their four-game OVC road trip next week as they head north for a Thursday game at Eastern Illinois with the tip coming at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday (Jan. 19) has the Racers at SIUE for a 7p tip.

Game Notes
MSU leads the all-time series with the Redhawks 58-21 and are 28-10 at SEMO. The Redhawks visit the CFSB Center in Murray on Feb. 23.

Coach Matt McMahon is 72-39 (.648) in his fourth season and is 39-8 (.829) in the last two seasons. He is 5-2 against SEMO.

KJ Williams and Darnell Cowart began the day first and fourth in OVC field goal percentage. They were 10-of-15 from the field combined tonight. After the SEMO game, Williams is hitting 70 percent in OVC play on 17-of-24 and Cowart is at 62 percent on 23-of-37.

Ten of the Racers' previous 12 wins, saw them enjoy the lead of more than 30 minutes. They never trailed today and had the lead for good after their first basket only 10 seconds into the contest.

Racers started the day 17^th in NCAA D-I in giving only 49.9 percent to opponents in field goal percentage. They're even better defending the 3-point show at sixth in the nation as opponents only shoot 27 percent. MSU leads the OVC in both stats.