Pair of 20’s! Moore & Wood lead Racers Past UIC

Saturday, January 14

Murray, Ky.

3 p.m.

Murray State

10-8,5-3MVC

UIC

9-10,1-7MVC

UIC

Murray St.

Photo by: (c) {year 4} David Eaton

1/14/2023 6:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

The Murray State Racers enjoyed Cameron Payne Day and a win over the Flames

The Murray State Racers sprinted past the UIC Flames Saturday 81-64 and halted a two-game skid in an afternoon game at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

On the day when MSU retired the jersey of hall of famer, Cameron Payne, the Racers had their largest rebound margin of the season to improve to 10-8 overall and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Racers are in Nashville, Tennessee Tuesday night for a clash with Belmont.

For the first time this season, the Racers produced a pair of 20-point performers when Brian Moore, Jr. and JaCobi Wood each scored 21 points by combining for 17-of-22 from the field. Kenny White, Jr., added 11 points as MSU also got seven rebounds each from Wood and Sam Murray II. Wood flirted with a triple-double with a team-high seven assists.

Leading UIC 39-28 at the intermission, the Racers hit the Flames with a 10-2 run at the start of the final stanza including five points from Jamari Smith, who scored all nine of his points in the second half.

The Racers pushed to their biggest lead of 19 points in the second minute and won by 17 points, their highest scoring margin in their first eight MVC games.

Game Notes

Today's game marked the first meeting between the Racers and Flames since they played twice in 2006 in the ESPN Bracket Buster Series.
The Racers do not make a trip on the road to play UIC this season.
MSU was dominant on the boards in winning the stat 40-24, their best margin of the season.
Sam Murray had a season-high 13:41 in playing time. His stat line was his best of the season with six points and seven rebounds.
Brian Moore, Jr. set a new MSU career-high with 21 points.
The Racers' field goal percentage of .574 was their best this season against a D-I team. Previously the Racers shot .511 (23-45) at Middle Tennessee, but lost the game.
Moore is the seventh different player to lead the Racers in scoring this season. The others are: Anderson, Burns, Morgan, Perry, Smith, Wood.
Moore and JaCobi had matching 21-point performances, marking the first time this season for the Racers to have a pair of 20-point players.
The last game with two 20-point scorers was Tevin Brown (23) and Justice Hill (21) vs Morehead State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title game (March 5, 2022).
The combined foul total of 38 was the second-highest total for a game this season for the Racers. The game with Bellarmine produced 40 fouls.
The Racers had a blast honoring the career of Murray State hall of famer, Cameron Payne. His jersey No. 1 was lifted into the rafters at the CFSB Center as he becomes the 12^th Racer to have the honor and the first since Ja Morant in 2019.
Several of Payne's Phoenix Suns teammates and head coach Monty Williams made the drive up from Memphis to share the moment. Monday, it's Payne vs Morant as the Suns play the Grizzlies in Memphis.
MSU's last three All-America point guards now have their numbers retired: Isaiah Canaan (2018), Ja Morant (2020) and Cameron Payne (2023).