Racer Basketball Primer - Tickets, Special Events, Tradition

The summer is always a busy time in Murray State Athletics and that is no different for its various teams, including the Racer men's basketball team.

What's in store for the 2019-20 season? It won't be long and we'll begin to find out as the Racers are coming off one of the best two-year runs in program history with a 54-11 record. In the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, MSU won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular season championships and OVC Tournament championships leading to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In March, the Racers recorded their fourth NCAA Tournament win with an 83-64 win over Marquette and finished the season with a 28-5 record.

As coach Matt McMahon takes his fifth edition of the Racers into the coming season, here's a handy summer basketball primer.

Tickets! Get Your Tickets Here!
All Murray State season ticket holders are asked to renew their tickets prior to the Aug. 1 due date.

Call the CFSB Center ticket office at 270-809-3000 to purchase your tickets for the coming season and to inquire about becoming a new season ticket holder in time for the 2019-20 season.

When MSU hosted Belmont in January of 2019, a crowd of 8,969 was the largest at the CFSB Center since 2012. Then in March, the record was topped again when MSU hosted Austin Peay with an attendance of 9,012. Racer fans, the team needs you to bring the same energy to the CFSB Center as you did at home last season and at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana where record crowds attended the semifinals and finals. The 2020 OVC tournament is also at the Ford Center in March.

2019-20 Schedule Coming Soon
The Racers' schedule for 2019-20 will feature a great set of games that will allow fans see great games at home and on the road.

One part of the 2019-20 schedule was released this week when the Racers were announced as part of the eight-team Gulf Coast Showcase. The event at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, gives Racer fans a great chance to enjoy seeing the team play three games in three days (Nov. 25-27). The Racers face La Salle in their first game and play either Wright State or Weber State in their second game.

Tickets for the 2019 Gulf Coast Showcase go on public sale on Monday, July 22 at HertzArena.com or through Ticketmaster. Check GulfCoastShowcase.com for travel and hotel information and make plans to join the Racers for a great time Thanksgiving week in Florida.

Hoopalooza Celebrates Racer Basketball Tradition
Join Murray State Men's Basketball on August 2-3, for Racer Hoopalooza presented by CFSB.

With some days to go before the big event, there are more than 40 former Racer Basketball players that have confirmed they'll attend. The featured guests are the coaches and players of the Racers' 2009-10 team that shocked the nation with the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in 22 years. Coach Billy Kennedy's team beat Vanderbilt on Danero Thomas' buzzer shot. Coach Kennedy and Thomas will be at Hoopalooza along with teammates Isaiah Canaan, Jewuan Long, Tony Easley, Georges Fotso, Donte Poole, Jordan Burge and Jeffrey McClain. Other Racer greats, Popeye Jones, Marcus Brown, Jeff Martin and Shawn Witherspoon are also attending. Other former players and coaches are sure to be added to the lineup before the event.

Tickets to the Friday (Aug. 2) celebration dinner are available by calling the CFSB Center ticket office at 270-809-3000. There is also a golf scramble (Aug. 3) at Murray Country Club and fans are invited to watch pickup games after the golf is finished at the CFSB Center.

Basketball In The Bahamas
The Murray State men's basketball team is headed to The Bahamas (Aug. 9-11) where they play three exhibition games against Bahamas select teams at Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium. It'll be the first foreign exhibition trip the Racers have taken since 2015 when they played in Ottawa and Montreal, Canada.

Racer Mania Plans
The fun and excitement of Racer Mania (Oct. 24) will give fans a first look at both the Racers' women's and men's basketball teams. Every student-athlete on the MSU hoops squads will be introduced, each team will scrimmage and fans will be able to get autographs and photos afterwards.

After 94 seasons – Racers Rank Among NCAA Best
The 2019-20 season marks the 95^th for Murray State Basketball. With the OVC's greatest tradition, the Racers rank high in NCAA D-I among teams that have played at least 25 seasons. MSU is 11^thall-time with a winning percentage of .647 which puts them just ahead of a group of teams that includes, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Arkansas, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana and just behind Louisville, Villanova and Arizona. Kentucky is the all-time leader at .764, with North Carolina in second at .739 and Kansas third at .725. In the NCAA record book, the Racers enter the 2019-20 season with 1,612 wins and rank 44^thnationally. MSU is ahead of Marquette, Pittsburgh and Missouri and just behind Illinois State, Dayton and Tennessee. Kentucky (2,293), Kansas (2,274) and UNC (2,232) make up the top-3.

De'Teri Mayes Selected For Induction For MSU Hall of Fame
MSU Basketball great De'Teri Mayes is part of the 2019 class to the Murray State Hall of Fame. The class is set to be inducted the night of Nov. 15 and honored at the MSU Football game vs Austin Peay and MSU men's basketball season opener each on Nov. 16.

Mayes is joined in the 2019 class by Coach Connie Keasling (1984-87, 1992-11) of women's tennis, football's Rob Hart (1995-99) and Austin Lane (2006-09), Stevon Roberts (1990-93) and Siebert Straughn (1989-02) of men's track & field. MSU women's track & field sprinter Alexis Love (2009-13) is also part of the 2019 class along with Morgan Hicks (2001-04) of rifle and women's track & field and basketball pioneer Pat Ward-Seib (1967-71).

Mayes played for the Racers from 1996-98 and left as the program's all-time scorer for two-year players and helped the Racers to a pair of OVC regular-season and OVC Tournament titles and NCAA appearances 1996 and 1997.

Murray State University Athletics

Racer Basketball Primer - Tickets, Special Events, Tradition

Players Mentioned

Jordan Burge

Isaiah Canaan

Jewuan Long

Donte Poole

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