Racers Dominating Defense Keys Victory Over Kennesaw State

Monday, December 16

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

6-4,0-0OVC

Kennesaw State

1-9,0-0ASUN

Kennesaw St.

Murray St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Racers Dominating Defense Keys Victory Over Kennesaw State

12/16/2019 4:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers took the floor for the first time in more than a week and came away with a 74-38 victory over the Kennesaw State Owls. The victory pushed MSU's home win streak to 11 at the CFSB Center, in Murray, Ky.

DaQuan Smith scored a career-high 21 points on 5-of-9 from the 3-point line and Anthony Smith scored 14 points on 6-of-9 from the field. Demond Robinson scored 12 points and tied with A. Smith as each grabbed seven rebounds.

The Racers came out of the gate with a defensive mindset and they set about the business of shutting down the opponent. After Jaiveon Eaves and Smith hit back-to-back threes, the Racers were up at the start 8-0. KJ Williams scored in the lane and made it a 24-3 Racer lead at the 11:42 mark. The lead went to 35-8 with 7:07 left before half on a basket by Robinson. MSU had a 45-20 lead at the intermission as they shot 50 percent (16-of-32), while holding the Owls to 29 percent (7-of-24). The Racers hit seven 3-pointers in the first half (five from DaQuan Smith) while giving up zero to KSU.

The Racers second half wasn't spectacular on offense, but it stayed that way on defense. MSU held KSU to 4-of-21 from the field for 19 percent including 2-of-10 from the 3-point line. KSU didn't hit their first 3-pointer of the game until 8:24 left.

MSU had an excellent game in sharing the ball with 17 assists against only seven turnovers. The Racers forced the Owls into 18 turnovers.

Next up for the Racers is their final game before Christmas. MSU travels to the Ford Center Saturday to take on the Evansville Purple Aces in a 6 p.m. in Evansville, Indiana.

Game Notes

19 of DaQuan Smith's 21 points came in the first half when he hit five 3-pointers. His 19 points in the opening 20 minutes was only one point less than the Owls had as a team.
Smith's five 3-pointers matches Tevin Brown for the top game of the season. Brown hit five threes against Tennessee (Nov. 12).
Demond Robinson's four blocked shots was the season high for the Racers.
The Racers are 5-1 this season when leading at halftime. The only time they didn't win was at Tennessee.
The Racers' home win streak is now 11 since their last defeat in January against Belmont. In their 22^nd season at The Bank, the Racers are now 265-45 (.854) at the CFSB Center. Their final home game of 2019 is against the Cumberland Phoenix (Dec. 28). MSU's home win streak vs non-OVC teams is 12 in a row. MSU's last loss was against Auburn (12-19-17).
The Racers are now 8-2 all-time against the current membership of the Atlantic Sun Conference. This was the first time the Owls and Racers have met.
Racer fans gave Kennesaw State head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim a nice ovation just before the game started. Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim (2006-11) was part of Coach Billy Kennedy's staff that included the amazing 2009-10 season in which the Racers won 29 games and the program's first NCAA win in 22 years. Abdur-Rahim left MSU with Kennedy when he became head coach at Texas A&M in the spring of 2011.
The Racers' final game before Christmas is against the Evansville Purple Aces Saturday at the Ford Center in Indiana. It will mark MSU's fourth game this season with Missouri Valley squads after a win over Southern Illinois and losses to Missouri State and Drake. The Ford Center is the site of the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament (March 4-7).