Morant & Racers Thrill In OVC Win At EIU

Thursday, January 17

Charleston, Ill.

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

14-2, 5-0OVC

Eastern Illinois

10-8, 3-2OVC

Murray State

Eastern Illinois

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

1/17/2019 11:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers moved their win streak to six games Thursday with an 83-61 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena in Charleston.

The Racers (14-2, 5-0 OVC) sophomore Ja Morant led the way with 27 points and 10 assists as Murray State won their 16^th consecutive OVC game (including nine straight road games). Murray State also got 17 points from Shaq Buchanan on 4-of-8 shooting from the 3-point line and a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds from freshman big man KJ Williams. Morant, was one assist from a double-double as he had nine assists.

The Racers play Saturday at SIUE ending a four-game road swing over the last two weeks. Tip time for the Racers and Cougars is 7 p.m. at the Valdabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.

At an OVC opponent home floor that has been a very tough place to win in the past, the Racers were hot in the first seven minutes with a 22-9 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Morant and Brion Whitley. The Racers got consecutive baskets from Williams, Morant and Buchanan for a 20-point advantage at 2:20 before half.

After leading 48-29 at the intermission, the game got a shot in the arm that only Morant can deliver. At the 18:26 mark, Morant got a steal and went in for a highlight dunk that seemingly shook Lantz Arena. The dunk was the ESPN SportsCenter lead story later in the night. Additionally, his under the rim flip layup was the No. 4 play on SportsCenter's Top-10 and his dunk was the No. 1 play. It marked the third time this season he has had the No. 1 play following dunks he had at Alabama (Nov. 26) and at UT Martin (Jan. 10).

With the lead down to 12 (58-46) at the 10:31 mark, MSU snuffed the EIU rally with 14-4 run which included three consecutive 3-point baskets from Buchanan for a 72-50 lead with 7:31 remaining. MSU's largest lead came with 4:13 left at 78-54.

With Morant recording his ninth game of the season of 25 points or more, the Racers shot 52 percent (34-of-65) and 43 percent (9-of-21) from the 3-point line. MSU continues to have high marks defensively as they held EIU to 36 percent from the field (24-of-66) and 33 percent from the 3-point line (8-of-24).

Game Notes
Murray State hall of famer Isaiah Canaan (2009-13) attended the game in Charleston tonight. The Racers' fifth all-time scorer with 2,050 points, two-time OVC Player of the Year, All-America selection and a member of the prestigious retired jersey club, is between teams currently in his NBA career. Coming back from a serious ankle injury, he started the season with the Phoenix Suns, but was waived on Nov. 28, 2018. Canaan told GoRacers.com he is staying in great shape and is confident that he'll get another team to play for before the season is finished. Canaan has played in 224 NBA games total with the Rockets, Raptors, 76ers, Bulls and Suns and has scored 1,874 points.

Tevin Brown has been a better 3-point shooter away from home in his first season, but tonight was 0-of-5. It marked the first time in his 16-game MSU career that he hasn't hit at least one three.

With a 4-of-8 night from the 3-point line, Buchanan is now 11-of-23 (.478) in OVC games.

The 16 rebounds for KJ Williams is his career high besting the 13 he had (Jan. 5) against EKU.

The Racers lead the all-time series with EIU 47-11 and are 19-7 at Lantz Arena. The Panthers return tonight's game to Murray (Feb. 7).