The Great Escape! First Place Racers Win At Morehead State

Saturday, February 12

Morehead, Ky.

3 p.m.

Murray State

14-024-2 / OVC

Morehead State

11-319-8 / OVC

No. 23 Murray State

Morehead State

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

The Great Escape! First Place Racers Win At Morehead State

2/12/2022 4:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Racers remained undefeated in the OVC and pushed their winning streak to 14 in a row with an amazing comeback at Morehead State

The Murray State Racers pulled out an improbable victory Saturday with a 57-53 win over the Morehead State Eagles in Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky.

In erasing a nine-point deficit in the final 5:17, the win keeps the Racers with at least a two-game lead in the Ohio Valley Conference at 14-0 with a matching 14-game winning streak and 24-2 overall record. After winning at Tennessee State Thursday, the Racers went 2-0 away from home after breaking into the Associated Press and USA Today top-25 rankings at No. 23 and No. 24 on Monday.

KJ Williams recorded his 10^th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Justice Hill tossed in 11 points with seven assists. Carter Collins added eight points to the MSU attack while Tevin Brown

made his seven points count by scoring all of them during MSU's frantic comeback.

Trailing 49-40 with 5:17 remaining, the Racers began an amazing comeback that included Brown's only 3-pointer of the game to make it a three-point game with 3:31 to go. While the MSU defense racked up several stops, they took the lead for good at the 1:55 mark on a Williams fast break and another drive to the basket for a 53-50 lead with 1:01 to play. The Eagles knotted the game with 38 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Tray Hollowell, but the Racers took the lead again on a basket by Brown with 15.9 left at 55-53. Morehead's drive to the hoop with 3.9 left missed and Williams was fouled and hit both free throws for the 57-53 win.

The Racers comeback is one for the ages as they trailed by nine points with 5:17 remaining and won the game on a 17-4 run. It's the biggest come from behind win for Murray State when trailing at the 5:00 mark since 2015. In a game on Feb. 14, the Racers clawed back and forced overtime where they beat the SEMO in Cape Girardeau 94-92. The most recent wins after trailing with 5:00 left includes a game at Tennessee Tech in 2019 where MSU overcame a three-point deficit to win 63-60 and a home game in 2018 against Evansville when the Racers were down by five points and won 56-51.

Game Notes

Brown has made a 3-pointer in 22 straight games. The last time he failed to make at least one three was against ETSU (Nov. 22).
Brown, the OVC 3-point king, was 0-of-6 when he hit a big one during MSU's rally.
The Racers have a string of 10-straight games with double-digit offensive rebounds. They had 13 today.
Williams has 10 double-doubles this season and 26 for his career.
With 21 points, Williams has joined an exclusive club in Racer Basketball history. He now has 1,500 points and 800 rebounds. The only other MSU players to accomplish that are Popeye Jones (1988-91) and Isaac Spencer (1997-01).
This game marked just the eighth time in the last 12 seasons that the Racers have won a game when neither team reaches 60 points. Their last was in 2020 at SIUE when MSU won 59-58.
The Racers have won seven in a row on the road and are 9-1 this season. Their only road loss was at Auburn (Dec. 22).
The Racers are now 116-52 all-time against Morehead State and 37-33 in away games.
The Racers snapped Morehead State's 20-game home win streak that was the third-longest in the nation.
McMahon's outstanding success for the Racers now has him at 147-66 (.690) in seven seasons and 89-31 (.741) in OVC games.
In his last five seasons, McMahon's Racers are an incredible 114-35 (.765).
Tonight's game was McMahon's second game as a head coach with his team ranked.
Tonight's game was MSU's 41^st all-time as a ranked team.
For the moment, the Racers have the most wins of any team in the nation with 24. Auburn and South Dakota State each have 23 wins each.
With Longwood and Wagner dropping out, the Racers remain a part of a group of four teams that are undefeated in their conference. The others are: Vermont (America East), South Dakota State (Summit) and Gonzaga (West Coast).
How much of a rare win was this for the Racers? KenPom.com had the Racers listed with only a nine percent chance to win the game when they trailed 49-40 with 5:17 remaining.

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.

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.

About Murray State Athletics
Located in Murray, Kentucky, the athletics department of Murray State University is a NCAA Division I member and plays in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Racers have 15 programs including men's teams for baseball, basketball, cross country, football and golf and women's teams for basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball, as well as a mixed gender rifle team. The Racers are a charter member of the Ohio Valley Conference and are currently one of just two original members from the conference's first season in 1948.