Versatile Racers Push Home Win Streak To 19

Saturday, February 15

CFSB Center

4 p.m.

Murray State

19-7,12-2OVC

Morehead State

12-15,6-8OVC

Morehead St.

Murray St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

2/15/2020 11:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers ran their home winning streak to 19 and kept a share of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 85-57 victory over the Morehead State Eagles at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The win pushes the Racers (19-7) into the final two weeks (four games) of the OVC regular-season at 12-2. MSU is tied for first in the league with Austin Peay who defeated Eastern Kentucky 93-85. Murray State takes to the road next week for games at Eastern Illinois and SIUE (Feb. 20 & 22).

With a balanced attack of five players scoring in double-figures, the Racers never trailed. They received 15 points from Tevin Brown and 13 each from Jaiveon Eaves and KJ Williams. Chico Carter, Jr., and Devin Gilmore each tallied 11 points. Gilmore's game-high 10 rebounds secured his second double-double this season.

Leading 19-12 at the 11:13 mark, the Racers displayed one of their greatest weapons, versatility. During the 12-1 run, four different MSU players scored as the lead went to 31-13 with 7:13 left before half. The Racers settled for a 13-point lead (45-32) at the half, after the Eagles hit a buzzer 3-pointer.

The Racers pushed to a 22-point lead on a 22-13 start to the second half and led 67-45 with 10:04 left. MSU ended the second half outscoring the Eagles 40-25.

Murray State limited their turnover total to 10 and it helped the Racers shoot 53 percent for the game (29-of-55). Defensively, MSU held Morehead State to 34 percent from the field (20-of-59) and the Racers won the rebound battle 41-33. The Racers outscored the Eagles 40-24 in the paint.

Game Notes
Today was the 166^th meeting between two of the founders of the OVC. The Racers lead the series 115-51 and are 62-14 at home. The Racers have won 22 of the last 25 games since 2005 and have won the last 13 meetings with Morehead State at the CFSB Center since the Eagles' last win in 2003.

Coach Matt McMahon is on the verge of his third-straight 20-win season. If the Racers can get it, McMahon will be the third MSU coach to do it. The first was Coach Carlisle Cutchin (1935-38) and the second was Coach Steve Prohm (2011-15) who is the only MSU coach to do it in four-straight seasons. Coach McMahon is now 106-49 (.683) in five seasons with the Racers and 62-20 (.756) in the OVC. His teams have done exceptionally well at the CFSB Center where they are 62-11 (.849).

Since a loss at home to Belmont (Jan. 24, 2019) 79-66, the Racers have won their last 19 at home in the friendly confines of the CFSB Center. MSU Has but two home games remaining in this regular season, with Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 27) and Austin Peay (Feb. 29). The Racers are now 42-3 (.933) in The Bank and 24-1 (.960) in OVC games in the last three seasons.

Murray State started the day in a group of 10 teams that been undefeated at home in the last full calendar year of 365 days as of Feb. 14. The others are Auburn, Florida State, Gonzaga, Harvard, Liberty, Murray State, NC Central, Oregon, Prairie View A&M and South Dakota State.

The Racers entered the game fourth in the MVC in team free throw shooting (.716) and hit 18-of-24. The Racers best free throw streaks this season have come from KJ Williams (16), Tevin Brown and Anthony Smith (15), Jaiveon Eaves (13).

Tevin Brown has made a 3-pointer now in 16 straight games on 48-of-103 (.466), while Jaiveon Eaves 15-44 (.340) and DaQuan Smith 24-60 (.400) each have runs of 11 games in a row with a made three. The best streak in recent times was 40 consecutive games with a 3-pointer by Isaiah Canaan in 2012-13.