Defense Travels – Racers Win At Illinois State - Murray State University Athletics

Tuesday, November 16

Normal, Ill.

7 p.m.

Murray State

3-0,0-0OVC

Illinois State

1-2,0-0MVC

Murray St.

Illinois St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Defense Travels – Racers Win At Illinois State

11/16/2021 5:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Murray State put four in double-figure scoring to win its first road game of the season in Bloomington, Illinois

The Murray Racers built a 16-point halftime lead and held on for a 77-65 victory Tuesday night over the Illinois State Redbirds at Redbird Arena in Bloomington.

The win for the Racers (3-0) propels them into the Naples Invitational Thanksgiving week in Florida.

Tevin Brown scored 19 points, while Justice Hill tied his career-high with 17 points. KJ Williams added 13 points and Trae Hannibal added 10 points off the bench as the Racers shot 47 percent from the field on 33-of-70 shots.

The Racers were off and running to a 7-0 start and later put together an 11-4 run on a 3-pointer by Hill and a Jordan Skipper-Brown dunk for a 20-10 lead with 11:15 in the half. Hannibal scooted down the lane at the buzzer to give the Racers a 41-25 lead at halftime, their 10-0 run gave them their largest lead of the game.

After ISU trimmed the lead to eight points at the start of the second half, Hill's three with 11:40 left kept the Racers in front 56-46. The Racers played well in the half court in late game sets and ran out the clock on their third-straight win to start the season.

The Racers had a big day defensively in limiting the Redbirds to 43 percent shooting and winning the rebound battle 42-29. MSU had 16 offensive rebounds and held ISU to seven.

Game Notes

Tevin Brown drew closer to the Ohio Valley Conference career 3-point made basket record. He was 3-of-7 tonight and now has 261 in his Murray State career. Brown is chasing Isaiah Canaan's Murray State record of 304 that he made from 2009-13.
The Ohio Valley Conference record is also in Brown's reach. Austin Peay's Joe Sibbitt made 319 from 1994-98.
Justice Hill enjoyed matching his career-high with 17 points. Hill hit 7-of-12 from the field including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. His also scored 17 points Dec. 12, 2020 in a home win over Austin Peay.
All eight MSU players that saw action grabbed at least a pair of rebounds. Hannibal had a team-high eight.
The Racers lead the all-time series with Illinois State 6-1 and have won the last four since the last loss at ISU in 2015.
MSU has won their last two games at Redbird Arena. They also won there in 2017.
The win matched MSU's largest win in the series of 12 points. They also defeated ISU by 12 points at home in 2014
The next action the Racers get is Thanksgiving week at the Naples Invitational, played at Naples Community School in Naples, Florida. MSU takes on East Tennessee Monday (Nov. 22) at 4:30 p.m. Central Time.
East Tennessee is a former member of the OVC. From 1957-78. The Buccaneers won one OVC regular season title in the 1967-68 season.
The Racers lead the all-time series with ETSU 24-19 and won their last meeting in 2010 in Murray 50-39.
The last meeting between MSU and ETSU as OVC members was in 1978 in Murray where the Buccaneers
won at old Racer Arena 84-69.
The next home game for MSU is Nov. 29 against Campbellsville

Racers Selected For Two Home Games On ESPNU
The Murray State men's basketball is hosting a pair of televised home games on ESPNU as announced by the Ohio Valley Conference for the 2021-22 season. The Racers will appear on ESPNU (Feb. 17) when they host the Austin Peay Governors at the CFSB Center in a 6 p.m. tip. The second game happens at home (Feb. 24) against the Belmont Bruins in a tip off of 8 p.m. Both of the TV games for the Racers come on Thursday nights. The OVC schedule has a total of nine total men's basketball televised games (six regular season contests and three OVC Tournament games) to be aired by one of the ESPN networks during the 2021-22 season. This includes three nights of coverage at the OVC Tournament (March 4-5) at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

Mini-Ticket Plans Available
Fans can purchase season tickets and the Navy & Gold Mini ticket plans at Racer Mania. The mini plans are a great way for Racer Nation to enjoy Murray State games with general admission tickets. Each mini plan is $50 for one general admission ticket to five games. All of the games offered in the ticket plans are doubleheaders except for the stand-alone men's game vs Middle Tennessee (Dec. 4). Call the ticket office at (270) 809-3000 to purchase a ticket plan.

NAVY TICKET PLAN
Dec. 4, 2021     Sat.     Middle Tennessee
Dec. 30, 2021   Thu.     Southeast Missouri (DH)
Jan. 22, 2022   Sat.     UT Martin (DH)
Jan. 29, 2022   Sat.     Morehead State (DH)
Feb. 17, 2022    Thu.     Austin Peay (DH)

GOLD TICKET PLAN
Dec. 18, 2021    Sat.     Chattanooga (WBB vs Lipscomb)
Jan. 1, 2022      Sat.     Tennessee Tech (DH)
Jan. 20, 2022   Thu.     Eastern Illinois (DH)
Feb. 5, 2022     Sat.     SIUE (DH)
Feb. 24, 2022   Thu.     Belmont (DH)

Racer Basketball Legacy Fund
The new fundraising initiative invites Racer supporters to have a lasting impact on the Murray State men's and women's basketball programs. Those interested in learning more about how you can support the Racer Basketball Legacy Fund initiative may contact Director of Development-Athletics, Taylor Mudd at (270) 809-3517 or tmudd3@murraystate.edu for more information.