Road Warriors - Racers Lock Down Bears In Springfield - Murray State University Athletics

Wednesday, January 10

Springfield, Mo.

7 p.m.

Murray State

7-9,4-1MVC

Missouri State

9-7,1-4MVC

Murray St.

Missouri St.

Photo by: Carter Lange

Road Warriors - Racers Lock Down Bears In Springfield

1/10/2024 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers held Missouri State to 19 first half points on their way to their largest margin of victory as an MVC member

The Murray State Racers pushed their winning streak to four Wednesday after an impressive performance in which they limited the Missouri State Bears to 19 first half points in a 77-53 victory at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Mo.

The Racers (7-9) moved to 4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference and come home Sunday to host the Northern Iowa Panthers at 3 p.m., in UNI's first visit to the CFSB Center.

In scoring back-to-back road wins in The Valley and scoring their first win at Missouri State since 2014, the Racers played a brilliant first half by holding the Bears to 23 percent shooting from the field, including 21 percent from the 3-point line. What the defense was working for the Racers, so was their offense in half that produced 48 percent and seven free throws.

With the game tied 12-12 less than nine minutes into the contest, the Racers swished a trio of 3-pointers from Wood, Anderson and Justin Morgan for a 25-15 lead at 6:26. MSU tacked on another eight unanswered points on their way to a 23-3 run to lead 35-15 with 2:34 before the half.

MSU went into the first half intermission leading the Bears 42-19, their best defensive performance in an opening half this season in 16 games.

The Racers played the second half 35-34 and led by as many as 33 points when Nick Ellington dunked with 8:42 remaining.

JaCobi Wood led the way for the Racers with 19 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line, while Quincy Anderson was a rebound from a double-double in scoring 18 points. Rob Perry and Brian Moore, Jr., added 13 and 10 points

Game Notes

The Racers have won back-to-back road games for the first time in Coach Steve Prohm's second tenure at MSU.
This win also marks the Racers' first back-to-back road wins each by 20 or points since 2022 at Belmont 82-60 (01-15-22) and at Eastern Illinois 72-46 (01-17-22).
Prohm wins his 225^th game of his 11-year head coaching career.
Prohm is 3-1 all-time against the Bears.
Missouri State returns the game to the CFSB Center on Feb. 14.
The Racers won the free throw stat again today going 10-of-14, while MOST was 5-of-15.
In MSU's six NCAA DI wins this season, they have outscored the opponent each time from the free throw line for a total advantage of 55 points.
JaCobi Wood and Quincy Anderson each carry free throw streaks of 18 into the next game against UNI.
The Racers have won eight of their last 11 MVC games (including Arch Madness) since last season and have started 4-1 this season.
In the last three wins over UIC, Evansville and Missouri State, the Racers have a winning margin of +58.
The win over MOST (+24) topped last week's win over UE (+22) as MSU's largest margin of victory in their history of playing in the MVC.
The Racers are 5-8 in MVC road games in their second season in the league.
Anderson's nine rebound game today is the best for a Racer against the Bears since Ja Morant had a triple-double in 2019 of 29/13/12.
The Racers outscored the Bears 23-2 in fast break points.

Follow the Racers on Twitter (@MSURacers), Instagram (@RacersAthletics) and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Murray State Athletics. Follow Murray State men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RacersHoops).

It's time to think about purchasing tickets to 2024 State Farm Arch Madness (March 7-10) in St. Louis, Missouri. The Enterprise Center is set to host the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament which will be staged in the Gateway City for a 34th consecutive time. Through Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, Racer fans get a discounted price of $175 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased through the Murray State ticket office at the CFSB Center, by calling (270) 809-3000 or online through GoRacers.com and TicketMaster.com.