Racers Road Show Heads For SEMO

Racers On A Roll - Visit SEMO With Impressive OVC Streak
The Murray State Racers (12-5, 5-0) finish up a four-game road segment Saturday with a 4 p.m. tip against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (4-14, 0-5) at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. After Thursday's 84-62 win at UT Martin, the Racers have won 14 consecutive Ohio Valley Conference games dating back to their last loss, at Jacksonville State (01-31-19). MSU's top streak was 22 in a row in the seasons that spanned 1997-99 for coach Mark Gottfried and Coach Tevester Anderson. The OVC record is 25 by Western Kentucky from 1965-67.

Racers vs Redhawks - First Meeting
The game finds the two teams playing for the second time after the Racers won the first meeting (Jan. 4) at home 81-59. MSU had a field day in the paint where KJ Williams, Anthony Smith, Devin Gilmore and Demond Robinson combined to hit 23-of-28 from the field for 52 points. Williams led the way with 18 points, while Smith added 16 and Gilmore 14 (on 7-of-7 from the field). MSU led 42-33 at halftime.

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 14- straight OVC wins in the regular season. During the streak, MSU is 7-0 at home and 7-0 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.

Overall, the Racers have won their last six and 7-of-9. In OVC games, MSU has won their last six road games since that loss at JSU in 2019.

Williams Leads MSU Post Presence
Murray State sophomore, KJ Williams, is one part of a four-headed front court the Racers are using effectively in OVC play. Williams scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win at UTM. He ranks seventh in the OVC with 7.1 rebounds per game and seventh in field goal percentage (.636.). Williams set the MSU single-season record as a freshman with a field goal percentage of .698 on 111-of-159. MSU's other bigs include Demond Robinson who scored 10 points in the UTM game and also Anthony Smith who is fourth in the OVC with a 7.7 rebound average and Devin Gilmore who is shooting .706 on 36-of-51.

Next Week: MSU Hosts Belmont and TSU
ESPN2 will help make for a big-time atmosphere at the CFSB Center when the Belmont Bruins come to Murray for a 6 p.m. game time. For the first time since Belmont joined the OVC for the 2012-13 season, the Racers and Bruins are scheduled to play twice this season. MSU travels to Nashville to play the Bruins (Feb. 6). The TSU Tigers visit the Racers (Jan. 25). The Racers will carry a 14- game home win streak into next week.

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Players Mentioned

Devin Gilmore

Demond Robinson

Anthony Smith

KJ Williams

Murray State University Athletics