MSU Zooms Past UTM With 3-Point Barrage In OVC Opener

Thursday, January 2

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

UT Martin

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

1/2/2020 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers opened the 72^nd season of Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball with an 89-76 victory over the visiting UT Martin Skyhawks at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (8-5, 1-0 OVC) pushed their home win streak to 13 as they prepare to host Southeast Missouri Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader at 7 p.m.

MSU's best scoring game of the season against an NCAA D-I team saw the Racers hit 67 percent from the 3-point line on 10-of-15. It 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 to go with three blocked shots. Jaiveon Eaves tied his career-high with 19 points and was perfect from the 3-point on 4-of-4. KJ Williams was the fourth Racer in double-figures with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Racers dominated the boards against UTM and ended the game with a 43-31 advantage on the glass, which included an 11-9 edge in offensive rebounds.

With 8:00 left in the first half, Eaves hit back-to-back threes for a 31-19 Racer lead. With 4:54 left, Anthony Smith scored a 3-point play and the MSU lead was 17 at 39-22. MSU's lead at the halftime intermission was 48-33 with an amazing 7-of-10 effort from the 3-point line.

UTM got as close as six points with 11:13 left in the game, but the Racers answered with a 6-0 run to go back in front 65-53 with 9:36 left. The Skyhawks never got any closer.

Game Notes
MSU is 7-0 at home this season and have pushed their win streak at the CFSB Center to 13 in a row.

The Racers have won 12-straight OVC openers since their last loss at home to Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 5, 2007). The Racers are 54-18 (.750) all-time in OVC openers.

MSU entered the game No. 7 in the nation with a rebound margin of +10.5. Their margin tonight against UTM was 12.

MSU's run of holding opponents to less than 10 second chance points ended at eight-straight games. UTM scored 10.

Against Kennesaw State (Dec. 16), Tevin Brown went scoreless for the first time in his MSU career on 0-of-7 shooting. However, since, he has been a hot shooter. In the last three games against Evansville, Cumberland and UT Martin, Brown has scored 78 points for a 26.0 per game average. He is 14-of-24 from the 3-point line in this period for a percentage of .583. Brown began the day 28^th in the nation in 3-point percentage. For the season, he is 40-of-88 (.455). Brown now has 612 points in 46 games with the Racers.

The Racers' 3-point game tonight was 10-of-15. It marks their best this season against an NCAA D-I team as they also hit 10 threes against Cumberland (Dec. 28). MSU's .667 percentage marked the program's first game of 60 percent or better since they hit 60 percent (9-of-15) at Eastern Illinois (1-12-17). MSU's game against UTM was their best 3-point percentage since they shot .733 (11-of-15) at home against Bethel (12-03-14).

Racer Greats, Ja Morant and Isaiah Canaan, were named to the All-Decade teams by CollegeInsider.com this week. Canaan, inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2018, and Ja Morant were named to the Lou Henson list for players from the mid-major ranks of NCAA D-I. Additionally, Morant was named to the Lute Olson list for players from all levels of NCAA D-I.