Sweet Swishes! Racers Outlast Sycamores With Free Throw Wave

Saturday, January 21

Murray, Ky.

5 p.m.

Murray State

11-9,6-4MVC

Indiana State

13-8,6-4MVC

Indiana St.

Murray St.

Photo by: Clay Wagoner-Murray State Athletics

Sweet Swishes! Racers Outlast Sycamores With Free Throw Wave

1/21/2023 2:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers met the Indiana State Sycamores for the first time as MVC members and the first since 2008

The Murray State Racers outscored the Indiana State Sycamores by 16 points from the free throw line Saturday to produce an 82-73 victory at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (11-9) improved to 6-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference in front of the largest crowd of the home season at 6,006.

Murray State hits the road next week for a game at Southern Illinois on Tuesday and returns to The Bank (Jan. 28) to host Missouri State on Ja Morant Poster Day.

Brian Moore, Jr., scored 19 points, while DJ Burns and Rob Perry each added 18 and Jamari Smith tallied 12 points. Burns turned the day into his fourth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.

After a slow start, the Racers turned the game in their favor when they forced the Sycamores into four-straight turnovers and took advantage to make three 3-point plays, two by Moore and one by Justin Morgan. The 11-2 run over 6:03 cut the ISU lead to 18-17 at 9:05. When Wood hit the Racers' 3-pointer of the day at 7:06, the game was tied 20-20 at 7:06. MSU took its first lead when Burns scored in the paint at 2:44, but the game was tied 36-36 at halftime.

MSU started slow again in the second half and trailed by six points with 15:45 left, but came back to take the lead for good with 11:31 left on a pair of Perry free throws to make it 52-50 Racers.

Game Notes

The Racers are 7-1 at home and have won 22 of their last 23 games at the CFSB Center.
The Racers are now 4-7 all-time vs the Sycamores.
MSU returns the game to ISU on Feb. 4., in Terre Haute.
This weekend marks the halfway point in the MVC 20-game season.
SIU and Belmont are atop the standings at 8-2 with UNI at 7-3 in third place. The Racers are in a group of five teams at 6-4.
On a day when five MVC road teams were winners, the Racers avoided the trap.
There are no longer any undefeated home teams in MVC play. The Racers are one of six teams with one loss.
By making 28-33 from the free throw line for a percentage of .848, it marks MSU's best percentage in 11 games this season of 20 or more attempts.
MSU grabbed 14 offensive rebounds (5 from Burns) for their 10^th game this season with 10 or more.
2023 State Farm MVC Basketball single-session tournament tickets went on sale this week. All-session tickets (11 games) start at $175. Prices for single-session tickets vary, depending on day/session: Visit MVC-Sports.com for more information.