Racers Put OVC Streak On The Line Thursday At UTM

Game 17 - at UT Martin - Elam Center - Martin, Tenn. - Jan. 16, 2020 - 7:30 p.m.

Murray State   (11-5)   (4-0)   Ohio Valley
Last: 01/11    A Tennessee Tech   Won   81-69
Next: 01/16    A UT Martin   01/18   A Southeast Missouri
AT
UT Martin       (5-10)   (1-3)   Ohio Valley
Last: 01/11   H Lost Belmont   Lost   85-78
Next: 01/16   H Murray State   01/18   H Austin Peay

Coaches
Matt McMahon   5th Season Alma Mater: Appalachian State (2000) Career Record:   98-47 (5th) At Murray State:   Same Ohio Valley:   54-18 Home:   57-11 Away:   29-28 Neutral: 12-8
vs UTM:   7-3
Anthony Stewart   4th Season Alma Mater: Mount Union (1993) Career Record: 49-63 (3rd) at UT Martin: Same Ohio Valley: 22-34 vs Murray State:   2-6

Series vs UTM: (52-7) H: 29-1 A: 23-5 N: 0-1 OVC: 49-6 OVC Trn: 1-1

Racers Take 13-Game OVC Win Streak To UTM
The Murray State Racers (11-5, 4-0) try to keep their early momentum going in their quest to win their third-straight Ohio Valley Conference championship when they travel to take on the UT Martin Skyhawks (5-10, 1-3) Thursday at the Elam Center in a 7:30 p.m. tip. The Racers won the first meeting with UTM at home 89-76 (Jan. 2) and have won the last five and 10 of the last 12. At the Elam Center, the Racers have won their last two since dropping an 83-76 loss there in 2017.

Game 1 Review
In the win in the first meeting, which was also the OVC opener, the Racers had their best scoring game of the season against an NCAA D-I team at the time. They hit 67 percent from the 3-point line on 10-of-15, which was their best shooting game since 2014 when they shot 73 percent against Bethel (TN).

Tevin Brown led the way with 23 points 4-of-6 from long range, while Anthony Smith scored a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jaiveon Eaves scored 19 points. KJ Williams scored 12 points with eight rebounds. UTM's Parker Stewart scored 33 points and has the highest individual point total this season against the Racers.

OVC Regular Season Winning Streaks
Since losing a game in January of 2019 at Jacksonville State, the Racers have not lost since and racked up 13 straight OVC wins in the regular season. During the streak, MSU is 7-0 at home and 6-0 on the road. MSU's all-time streak is 22 which bridged the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons for coaches Mark Gottfried and Tevester Anderson. Western Kentucky's run of 25 from 1965-67 still stands as the top mark in the OVC.

Racers Find a Way To Success
MSU isn't the offensive powerhouse they were in the last two seasons. So the Racers are finding other ways to get the job done and win game from inside the 3-point line. While shooting 33 percent from the 3-point line, the Racers are hitting an amazing 54 percent inside the arc and getting solid contributions from bigs Anthony Smith (10.2ppg/7.6rpg), KJ Williams (11.9ppg/6.9rpg), Demond Robinson (7.3ppg/3.3rpg) and Devin Gilmore (4.9ppg/3.2rpg).

Anthony Smith continues to perform at a high level as the fifth-year senior has successfully overcome a major injury setback that cost him all but five games last season. Smith had his fourth career double-double in the Tennessee Tech game Saturday with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Brown's Day To Remember
A year ago, Tevin Brown tied the MSU single-game record with nine 3-pointers. He scored a career-high 31 points. Jonathan Stark (12-17-2016) did it at South Dakota State and Justin Burdine (2-21-2002) had nine in a game against Eastern Kentucky at home.

Murray State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tevin Brown

Jaiveon Eaves

Devin Gilmore

Demond Robinson

Anthony Smith

Jonathan Stark

KJ Williams

Related Videos