Racers Roll Past Governors For 15th Straight Win

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

2/17/2022 4:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Racers remained undefeated in the OVC at 15-0 after a home win in front of the biggest crowd of the season at the CFSB Center

The Murray State Racers stayed at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference Thursday with a 91-56 win over the Austin Peay Governors at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. The win is the third-straight for the Racers as a ranked team after they were No. 21 this week in both the Associated Press and USA Today top-25 polls.

The Racers (25-2) won their 15^th game in a row and are 15-0 as they travel to play at UT Martin Saturday. MSU is 14-0 at home this season and have won their last 15 games at the CFSB Center as the largest crowd of the home season (6,217) watched.

KJ Williams scored a game-high 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting to lead six Racers in double figures. Tevin Brown scored 13 points, while DaQuan Smith, DJ Burns and Justice Hill all scored 11 and Trae Hannibal added 10 points.

On a night when the Racers led the game all but one minute, they got off to a great start with a 23-5 spurt in the game's first nine minutes capped by a Brown 3-pointer. The MSU lead went to 23 points on another Brown three at the 4:41 mark. The Racers held a 49-23 lead at the halftime intermission on 69 percent shooting on 20-of-29 shots. MSU's largest lead of the game came at 36 points with the score 84-48 with 5:15 left to play.

The Racers managed 64 percent for the game on 36-of-56 shots and were 7-of-12 from the 3-point line on 7-of-17.

Game Notes

The game marked another MSU/APSU clash in the Popeye's Battle of the Border.
MSU is now 89-45 all-time against APSU and 51-11 at home.
The game marked the final meeting between the two rivals in an OVC regular season game. After this school year, APSU will join the A-Sun Conference and the Racers will join the Missouri Valley Conference.
Tonight's crowd of 6,217 marks the largest crowd this season in the CFSB Center. It's the 14^th largest in the 24 seasons of the arena.
Brown has made a 3-pointer in 23 straight games. The last time he failed to make at least one three was against ETSU (Nov. 22).
Brown continues to extend his record for made 3-point baskets in the OVC. After a 3-of-5 today, he has 332.
McMahon's outstanding success for the Racers now has him at 148-66 (.690) in seven seasons and 90-31 (.741) in OVC games. In his last five seasons, McMahon's Racers are an incredible 115-35 (.765).
With their 25^th win, McMahon and his staff are the first in the history of the program to have three seasons of 25 or more wins. The Racers were 26-6 in 2017-18 and 28-5 in 2018-19.
Tonight's game was McMahon's third game as a head coach with his team ranked. He is 3-0.
Tonight's game was MSU's 42^nd all-time game as a ranked team.
For the moment, the Racers have the most wins of any team in the nation with 25.
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).
Gonzaga hosts Santa Clara on Sunday, while Vermont is at home against UMBC and South Dakota State is home to Western Illinois also Saturday.
NBA All-Star game starter, former Racer Ja Morant, now with the Memphis Grizzlies was in the house tonight. Morant, who has his No. 12 hanging from the rafters at the arena is headed to the big game Sunday in Cleveland where he will be a starter for the Western Conference.
The Racers hit the road for UT Martin Saturday (3:30 p.m. tip time) with a two-game lead in OVC first place with three games to play.
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).

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.

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.