Williams Goes For 30 – Racers Lock Down Belmont - Murray State University Athletics

Thursday, February 24

Murray, Ky.

8 p.m.

Murray State

27-2,17-0OVC

Belmont

24-6,14-3OVC

Belmont

Murray St.

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Williams Goes For 30 – Racers Lock Down Belmont

2/25/2022 12:16:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Racers stayed undefeated in the OVC at 17-0 after a win on the final home game of the season at the CFSB Center

The Murray State Racers clinched the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship outright Thursday with a 76-43 victory over the Belmont Bruins at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers' 17^th consecutive win set off a net-cutting celebration and special recognition of Coach Matt McMahon's 150^th career win. MSU improved to 27-2 and to 17-0 in the OVC. Having clinched the championship outright, the Racers finish the regular season at Southeast Missouri State in a 4 p.m. tip. A win at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau will make the Racers only the sixth team to go undefeated in OVC history and the first to do it in an 18-game season.

KJ Williams scored 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-4 from the 3-point line as the Murray State forward increased his stock as a candidate for OVC Player of the Year. Tevin Brown tossed in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to give MSU only two double-figure scorers. Trae Hannibal scored four points with seven rebounds and six assists.

In the first half Brown hit three-straight threes to start the game and the Racers were in front 9-6. A defensive struggle ensued, when the Racers and Bruins only scored two points each from the 13:41 mark to the 8:04 mark when Belmont's Ben Sheppard hit his team's first 3-pointer of the game to cut the MSU lead to 16-13. The Racers finished the final eight minutes in fine fashion with a burst of energy from DaQuan Smith who hit a pair of shots to put the Racers in front 24-15 at 4:17. A pair of baskets by Williams and the Racer lead was 33-16 with 1:20 left. Hannibal's basket with 40 seconds left gave the Racers a 35-17 lead at the halftime intermission.

The Racers led the rebound stat 22-12 at halftime as they held the Bruins to 7-of-28 from the field for 25 percent and 1-of-13 from the 3-point line for eight percent.

In the second half, the Racers capped the day with a pair of threes from Williams and one from Smith for a 33-point lead with 7:17 remaining.

Game Notes

MSU is now 11-12 all-time against Belmont and 8-3 at home.
The Racers sweep the two-game season series with the Bruins. They also won at Belmont (Jan. 15) 82-60.
This game was one of the best games in all of NCAA D-I tonight as the Racers and Bruins marked the first game in 2021-22 that the teams had a combined win total of 50 or more.
Brown has made a 3-pointer in 25. 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-6 today, he has 340.
McMahon's outstanding success for the Racers now has him at 150-66 (.694) in seven seasons and 92-31 (.747) in OVC games. In his last five seasons, McMahon's Racers are an incredible 117-35 (.769).
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 fifth game as a head coach with his team ranked. He is 5-0.
McMahon was honored after the game with his family on the court for his 150^th win in seven seasons with the Racers.
With games still to be played this season, McMahon's seven teams at MSU are averaging 21.4 wins per season.
McMahon is third all-time in wins behind only Carlisle Cutchin at 256 wins from 1925-41 and Cal Luther 241 wins from 1958-74. Both MSU legends coached the team 16 seasons each.
Tonight's game was MSU's 44th all-time game as a ranked team.
The Racers have the most wins of any team in the nation with 27.
The Racers remain a part of a group of three teams that are undefeated in their conference. The others are: South Dakota State (Summit – won at Oral Roberts in overtime 106-102) and Gonzaga (West Coast - won at San Francisco 89-73).
The Racers began the day sharing the nation's longest win streak with Gonzaga and South Dakota State. All three teams now have 17-game win streaks.
MSU's longest program winning streak is also the OVC record of 25-straight by the 2014-15 team.
The Racers head to SEMO having won eight in a row on the road and are 10-1 this season. Their only road loss was at Auburn (Dec. 22).
The Racers honored their academic seniors before the game. MSU student-athletes Tevin Brown, Carter Collins, Jordan Skipper-Brown and KJ Williams and graduate assistant manager Jack Seltsam all received a warm welcome from the home crowd at the CFSB Center.
Tonight's attendance of 8,041 marks the fifth-largest in the 24-season history of the CFSB Center.
As the day started, the Racer women's team and the men's team each had 20 wins. MSU was in a group of six schools whose women and men's teams each have 20 wins. The others are Baylor, Gonzaga, Missouri State, Toledo and Towson.
For the fifth-straight season, the OVC Tournament will be staged at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana next week (March 2-5). The Racer men will be the No. 1 seed and play the first semifinal game Friday (March 4) at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

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. Currently a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Racers will join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022.