KJ Williams Pours In 32 points – Racers Defeat Cumberland On Opening Night At The Bank

Tuesday, November 9

Murray, Ky.

7 p.m.

Murray State

1-0,0-0OVC

109

Cumberland (TN)

0-1

Cumberland (TN)

Murray St.

109

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

KJ Williams Pours In 32 points – Racers Defeat Cumberland On Opening Night At The Bank

11/9/2021 11:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Murray State’s KJ Williams had a perfect first half in hitting 7-of-7 and ended up setting a new career high

The Murray State men's basketball team ran past the Cumberland Phoenix to start their 97^th season of collegiate basketball in a 109-77 victory at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The 1-0 Racers are back in action Saturday (Nov. 13) on MSU Hall of Fame Day when they host the Bellarmine Knights at 7 p.m.

KJ Williams hit his first seven shots of the game and finished with a career high on 32 points on a night when he was 12-of-13 from the field including 5-of-6 from the 3-point line. The Racer big man hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and only made one turnover in 22:35 of playing time. Williams bested his former career game of 28 points last February at SIUE.

The rest of the scoring from MSU included 21 points from Tevin Brown on 4-of-8 from the 3-point line and 12 points from Justice Hill as he also had a game-high eight assists. KJ Williams

The game started with the Racers jumping on top 32-19 in the first 11 minutes of the game. By the time they made it to halftime, Williams had 22 points scored and the Racers had a 55-45 lead.

The Racers shot 63 percent from the field (38-of-60) which included hitting 13-of-26 from the 3-point line for 50 percent. MSU won the battle of the boards 43-24 and ripped down 10 rebounds on the offensive glass. MSU dished out 24 assists and held their turnover total to nine.

Game Notes

Since their 2014 three-point loss to Houston, the Racers have won seven-straight season and home openers.
The match up with Cumberland marks the eighth-straight season in which the Racers have opened the season at home since a 2013 defeat at Valparaiso.
The Racers have opened the season away from home only twice in the last 13 seasons. The other was a game at California in 2009.
For a while, it looked like KJ Williams might break the Murray State record for single-game field goal percentage. However, the record of 10-of-10 still stands. Cuthbert Victor set the mark against Tennessee State in 2001 and James Singleton matched it against TSU in 2003.
Williams' 11 field goals put him in the neighborhood of Garrett Beshear's 17 field goals against Middle Tennessee in 1952. Herb McPherson matched it ,against Marshall in 1966 for the MSU record.
Williams is the first Racer to score 30 points since Tevin Brown scored 31 at UT Martin in 2019 when he hit nine 3-pointers and tied the MSU single game record.
The Racers' game Saturday with Bellarmine marks the first meeting of the two schools that both reside in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Racers will return the game and play Bellarmine in Louisville next season in historic Freedom Hall.
Saturday's game is Hall of Fame Day at the CFSB Center. The eight-person class of 2021 features two Racer Greats being enshrined. Coach Tevester Anderson (1995-03) and Vincent Rainey (1993-97).

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.