Murray State University Athletics
Racers Blitz Valparaiso In Arch Madness Debut
3/2/2023 11:02:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Racers had a season-high 24 assists in a dominating win in St. Louis.
The rookie Racers who went 11-9 in their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference got the job done in their first postseason game in The Valley. Murray State advances to a 6 p.m. Friday game against the No. 2 seeded Drake Bulldogs in the quarterfinals. MSU is the No. 7 seed.
JaCobi Wood had his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 assists to lead the Racers to four double-figure scorers. Jamari Smith and Quincy Anderson each had their MSU career-best games with 19 and 18 points, while Rob Perry added 15 points.
The Racers broke to a 13-point lead at halftime after they hit the Beacons with a 12-2 run and held them to 33 percent shooting on 9-of-27 from the field. It was more of the same in the second half as MSU outscored VU 40-25 to cruise to the win and held the Beacons to 18 field goals and forced 19 turnovers.
Game Notes
- The 2023 MVC Tournament marks the 47th season of the event, the 33rd consecutive year to be held in St. Louis and the 27th in the Enterprise Center.
- Wood now has 877 points and is chasing the 1000-point mark.
- Wood has his third of the season double-double today. His previous two were against Tulsa (Nov. 20) 12P/11A and Bellarmine (Dec. 10) 11P/10R.
- Smith matched his career-high of 19 points, same as he had against Saint Louis (Nov. 17) and Tulsa (Nov. 20).
- Anderson scored his MSU career=high with 18 points. He previous was against Austin Peay (Dec. 16) with 16 points.
- The Racers' 24 assists are a season-high. Their previous high was vs Tulsa (Nov. 20).
- The Racers held Valpo to more turnovers (19) than field goals (18). It's their first against an opponent since 2022 vs Eastern Illinois.
- Coach Steve Prohm is 3-3 all-time vs Valpo and has won the last three, all this season.
- MSU held its opponent under 40 percent shooting for the first time in 16 games. The last was against Bradley (Jan. 4) at home when the Braves were 20-of-58 (.345).
- The No. 7 seed is now 23-45 all-time in the MVC Tournament.
- In MSU's first appearance at State Farm Arch Madness, they played in the Enterprise for just the second time.
- The first was in 1996 when the Racers met the Saint Louis Billikens when the arena that was called Keil Center. (12-18-1996).
JaCobi Wood on the statement @RacersHoops made: "We just wanted to let everybody know that we're here to compete with everybody no matter who we play. We wanted to preach being a team tonight, playing together and that's what we did. That's why we got the win." #ArchMadness pic.twitter.com/D8DwBLLzNl
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 3, 2023
Rod Thomas doing the honors updating that bracket! We'll see you in STL Racer Nation!#GoRacers🏇🏀 pic.twitter.com/apFspXEYWt
— Murray State MBB (@RacersHoops) March 3, 2023
FLEX ON EM 💪💪@stayjamari pic.twitter.com/v4RDPo5zk7
— Murray State MBB (@RacersHoops) March 3, 2023
FLEX ON EM 💪💪@stayjamari pic.twitter.com/v4RDPo5zk7
— Murray State MBB (@RacersHoops) March 3, 2023
FLEX ON EM 💪💪@stayjamari pic.twitter.com/v4RDPo5zk7
— Murray State MBB (@RacersHoops) March 3, 2023
Making PLays I Dj Burns#GoRacers🏇🏀 pic.twitter.com/ZiwoNZ5oWF
— Murray State MBB (@RacersHoops) March 3, 2023