Anderson Scores 27 - But Racers Fall At Illinois State

Sunday, December 3

Normal, Ill.

2 p.m.

Murray State

3-4,1-1MVC

Illinois State

5-3,2-0MVC

Murray St.

Illinois St.

Photo by: Illinois State Athletics

Anderson Scores 27 - But Racers Fall At Illinois State

12/3/2023 6:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers split their pair of early MVC games with a home win against Bradley and a road loss Sunday in Normal, Ill.

The Murray State Racers fought back from two double-digit deficits Sunday against the Illinois State Redbirds, but dropped a 76-72 decision at Doug Collins Court at CEFCU Arena in Normal.

The Racers (3-4) are 1-1 after they played an early pair of Missouri Valley Conference games with a home win (Nov 29) over Bradley and today's game with ISU.

Quincy Anderson scored his Murray State career-high with 27 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the 3-point line, while Rob Perry added 15 points and JaCobi Wood added 11.

Anderson's 27 is tied for fourth in NCAA D-I this season for a player coming off the bench.

Falling behind by double-digits at the start of the game and starting the second half, the Racers made a push on Perry's 3-pointer with 40 seconds left as he cut the Redbird's lead to two points. MSU's defense had held the Redbirds to no field goals from the 6:19 mark to 32 seconds when ISU called timeout after Perry's big shot. ISU's Darius Buford hit a shot in the lane for a 72-68 lead with 20 seconds left.

In the first half, the Racers overcame an 11-point deficit when they trailed 15-4 less than six minutes into the fray. It was Anderson's 13 first half points that impacted the game. Anderson had his own 6-0 run at 11:41 when he hit the Racers' first 3-pointer of the game and completed a 3-point play to cut the Redbirds lead to 17-14. Sam Murray saw his first action since Nov. 14, scored five points and grabbed three rebounds in 9:15 of floor time.

With finals week coming up, the Racers do not play a mid-week game before they hit the road for Clarksville, Tennessee, to face old rival Austin Peay on Saturday.

Game Notes

ISU's win is their first against the Racers since 2015. MSU had won the last six game sin the series that now reads 8-2 in MSU's favor.
The Racers got big production in the first half from Quincy Anderson and Sam Murray as they combined for 18 points on 6-of-9 from the field.
Anderson and Murray's production made up for a half in which MSU's Rob Perry, JaCobi Wood and Nick Ellington combined for only four points.
Anderson's 27 points today is his Murray State career-high and is the highest scoring game for the Racers in their series with ISU.
Anderson's 27 is tied for fourth in NCAA D-I with Malik Dailey of Belmont vs Penn, Evansville's Chuck Bailey against Missouri State, Trazarien of UNCW vs Kentucky and Nico Galette of Sacred Heart against New Hampshire.
Highest scoring game for a bench player in 2023-24 is 31 points by Dominick Harris of Loyola Marymount vs Central Arkansas.
Anderson's 27 was the most off the bench for a MSU since Brian Moore tossed in 21 points against UIC on January 14 2023.
The previous high scoring game for the Racers against ISU was 25 points by Rob Perry (2022) and Terrell Miller (2017).
His overall career scoring game was 35 points against Upper Iowa in 2021 when he played for Minnesota State.
Anderson hit a career-high six 3-pointers in game. He's the second to do it this season after JaCobi Wood did it in Ft. Myers in November.
JaCobi Wood is closing on becoming the fourth player with the Racers with 1,000 career points. He now has 985 points in 101 games.
The Racers' game at Austin Peay Saturday marks the game in this series that ESPN The Magazine once called one of the top rivalries in all of college basketball.
MSU leads the all-time series 90-45.
The game marks the first time in which the Racers will play on APSU's new F&M Bank Arena.
Saturday is a doubleheader against the Govs as the Murray State women's team plays at 4 p.m. in Clarksville, followed by the men's game at 6:15 p.m.

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