Racers Clash With UTM Thursday

UT MARTIN SKYHAWKS (10-15, 5-9 Ohio Valley)
Head Coach: Anthony Stewart (Mount Union, 1993)
Career Record: 42-49 (3rd season) • At UTM: Same • OVC: 20-28

MURRAY STATE RACERS (21-4, 12-2 Ohio Valley)
Head Coach: Matt McMahon (Appalachian State, 2000)
Career Record: 80-41 (4th season) • At MUR: Same • OVC: 46-18

Date: Feb. 21 Time: 7 p.m. CT Site: Murray, Ky. Arena: CFSB Center Radio: Racer Radio - WFGE 103.7 FM - PXP-Neal Bradley, Analyst-Kenny Roth TV: None Online Video: ESPN+ Audio: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com Twitter:@MSURacers @RacersHoops @RacerDave23

Series: MSU leads 50-7 Home: MSU leads 27-1 Away: MSU leads 23-5 Neutral: UTM leads 1-0 Last Meeting: 2017 Away MSU won 98-77 Last UTM Win: 2017 at OVC Tournament 83-76 Last 5 Meetings: MSU leads 3-2 Last 10 Meetings: MSU leads 7-3 Trends: MSU: has won five straight UTM: has won four-straight MSU Last: Feb. 16 won at EKU 102-70 UTM Last: Feb. 16 won at home vs SIUE 73-69 MSU Next: Feb. 23 home vs SEMO UTM Next: Feb. 23 at APSU

The Murray State Racers (21-4, 12-2) come home to the CFSB Center having won 14 of their last 15 and their last five as they host UT Martin (10-15, 5-9) Thursday in Murray, Kentucky. The week of games on Thursday and Saturday (when the Racers host SEMO) are doubleheader days at The Bank with the women's game starting at 5 p.m. and the men's game scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.

The Racers are enjoying an amazing run of winning with a total record of 47-10 in the last two seasons including a mark of 28-4 in Ohio Valley Conference games. The Racers enter the game tied with Belmont for first place in the conference at 12-2. After this week's home games with UTM and SEMO, the Racers play next week at Morehead State (Feb. 28) and finish the regular season at home (March 2) against Austin Peay. The Racers have secured their 31st season of 20 or more wins in the 94 seasons of program history and Coach Matt McMahon is the ninth-straight MSU head coach to record at least a pair of 20-win seasons.

Murray State is coming off a 102-70 win Saturday at Eastern Kentucky, where they shot a season-high 60 percent from the field (37-of-61), their best shooting game of the season against a NCAA D-I opponent.

MSU star sophomore Ja Morant shared the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball Player of the Week Award with Austin Peay's Terry Taylor. Morant was also recipient of the National Player of the Week Awards from The Naismith Award and the Lute Olson Award. Morant enters the week still trending toward becoming the first player to average 20 points and 10 assists in a single-season since the assist was made an official stat in 1985. Morant is first in the nation with 10.2 assists per game and eighth with 24.3 points per game.

However, even though the Racers have a probable All-America selection on their team, they're far from a one-man show. In OVC games, Shaq Buchanan (OVC Defensive Player of the Year) is 16th in the league with 14.0 points per game and fifth in steals per game with 1,9. Freshman of the Year candidate
Tevin Brown is fourth in the league with 35 made 3-point baskets. Darnell Cowart is 23rd in scoring at 12.4 points per game and he's seventh with 7.6 rebounds per game.

In the first meeting with the Skyhawks (Jan. 10) at the Elam Center, the Racers led 49-42 at the half and held on for a 98-77 win. Tevin Brown tied the MSU record for single-game made threes when he hit nine of them to lead to a career-high 31 points. Morant scored 26 points and set the MSU record with 18 assists. Buchanan added 21 points to the MSU total.

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. ESPN+ has live streaming video.

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Players Mentioned

Tevin Brown

Shaq Buchanan

Darnell Cowart

Ja Morant

Murray State University