Racers Hit The Road For JSU - Thursday Tilt On ESPNU - Murray State University Athletics

Murray State   (9-5)   (2-0)   Ohio Valley
Last: 01/04 H SE Missouri Won 81-59
Next: 01/09 A Jacksonville State 01/11 A Tennessee Tech
AT
Jacksonville State   (7-8)   (2-0)   Ohio Valley
Last: 01/04 at Eastern Ky. Won 80-71
Next: 01/09 H Murray State 01/11 H Austin Peay

Series History: MSU leads (23-3) H: 11-0 A: 9-3 N: 3-0 OVC: 20-3 OVC Tournament: 3-0

Coach Matt McMahon 5th Season Alma Mater: Appalachian State (2000) Career Record: 96-47 (5th) At Murray State: Same Ohio Valley 52-18 Home: 57-11 Away: 27-28 Neutral: 12-8 vs JSU: 5-2
Coach Ray Harper 4th Season Alma Mater: Kentucky Wesleyan (1985) Career Record: 505-172 (21st) at JSU: 74-45 (4th) Ohio Valley: 37-17 vs Murray State: 2-4

Radio: Froggy 103.7 FM Neal Bradley & Kenny Roth Television: ESPNU Alex Perlman (PXP) Kevin Lehman (Analyst) Audio & Video: GoRacers.com & Froggy103.com, ESPN3  Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Road Racers Meet JSU In Thursday Tilt On ESPNU
The Murray State Racers (9-5, 2-0) play their first road game of the league season Thursday when they take on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (7-8, 2-0) at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The game has an 8 p.m. tip time and will be aired by ESPNU.

The Racers are 9-3 all-time at The Pete, but have lost their last two games there in 2018 and 2019. The Racers had never played JSU until the Gamecocks joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 2004. MSU has an overall lead in the series of 23-3. The last meeting was in the OVC Tournament semifinals where the Racers won a thriller 76-74. With this game being their only regular season meeting in 2020, the only way they can meet again this season is in the OVC Tournament which is at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana (March 4-7). Austin Peay is again the Racers' travel partner and will play Thursday at Tennessee Tech. The teams flip Saturday with the Racers getting a 7:30 p.m. game time at the Eblen Center in Cookeville against the Golden Eagles. APSU travels to play at JSU.

Solid Post Play = Winning Formula
In Saturday's 81-59 win over Southeast Missouri, the Racers continued to evolve offensively in a way that the program hasn't seen in a long time. When the Redhawks decided to take away the Racers' excellent 3-point shooting (MSU hit 10 threes in a win over UT Martin) the Racers pounded the paint with 52 points as Devin Gilmore, Demond Robinson, Anthony Smith and KJ Williams combined to hit 23-of-28 from the field for a percentage of .821. Included in that effort against SEMO was Gilmore going 7-of-7 from the field. This quartet is also helping the Racers to one of the best team rebounding seasons in history. Basically, the Racers are holding opponents to one shot and one shot only. The Racers are No. 3 in the nation with a rebound margin of +10.9. MSU is No. 22 in defensive rebound with 29.2 per game. KJ Williams and Anthony Smith are each above seven rebounds per game and Tevin Brown is one of the best rebounding guards in the OVC with an average of 5.2 rebounds per game

This is not to say the Racers can't shoot the three, it's that they haven't had to take as many because the inside game is clicking on most nights. MSU enters the week No. 311 in NCAA D-I and 12th in the OVC with 311 attempts. However, when teams don't pay attention to the 3-point line, Tevin Brown can make them pay. Brown is No. 18 nationally (1st OVC) with a .451 clip and he's No. 42 (3rd OVC) with 2.93 made 3-pointers per game. Against Cumberland (Dec. 28) and UT Martin (Jan. 2), the Racers hit 20-of-39 from the 3-point line for a percentage of 512.

MSU Begins Four-Game OVC Road Trip
After playing this week at JSU and TTU, the Racers play at UT Martin and SEMO (Jan. 16 &18). MSU is back at home (Jan. 23) for a showdown with Belmont on ESPN2.

Racers Hit The Road For JSU - Thursday Tilt On ESPNU

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Players Mentioned

Tevin Brown

Devin Gilmore

Demond Robinson

Anthony Smith

KJ Williams

Murray State University Athletics