Murray State Gives Indiana State A Run

Sunday, January 21

CFSB Center

4 p.m.

Murray State

8-11,5-3MVC

Indiana State

16-3,7-1MVC

Indiana St.

Murray St.

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

1/21/2024 7:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers took on Indiana State Sunday at the CFSB Center and led into the second half

The Murray State Racers gave Indiana State a run Sunday afternoon, but ultimately fell to the Sycamores 72-63 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (8-11) fell to 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference as they hit the road Wednesday for a clash with the Bradley Braves at Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois at 6 p.m.

Quincy Anderson score his second 20-point game of the season with 21 points on 4-of-6 from the field, while Nick Ellington tallied his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. JaCobi Wood added 10 points.

The Racers held the high-scoring Sycamores to their lowest first half output of the season at 25 points thanks to some good half-court defense, four blocked shots and Limiting the visitors to one fast break bucket. The Racers took a 24-20 lead when Wood scored in the lane at 4:28. Ellington continued his great play from the 29 points he scored in the UIC game Wednesday by hitting 6-of-9 from the field. His basket with 1:05 left put the Racers up by three, the same margin they led by at the intermission of 28-25.

Indiana State, ranked 25^th coming in according to the NCAA Net Rankings, made seven of their first 10 from the 3-point line in the second half and hit the Racers with a 31-17 run to take an 11-point lead with 8:30 remaining. The Racers rallied to cut the lead to 58-50 at 6:00 on a pair of baskets by Anderson, but the Sycamores responded and pushed the lead to 13 with 4:36 to play. The Racers made one more run, but couldn't get any closer with 3:22 remaining.

Game Notes

Ellington's week was among the best in The Valley as the St. Louis native scored 29 points at UIC and 17 today. His two-game totals included 77 percent shooting (21-of-27), 17 rebounds for an 8.5 per game average and four assists and six blocked shots.
This was Ellington's third double-double of the season, after he started the season with back-to-back efforts against Midway (Nov. 6) and Tennessee Tech (Nov. 10).
The Racers held the Sycamores to their lowest output in the season for one half of 25 points in the first half. Their previous low was against Northern Iowa of 33 in the second half (Jan. 7).
The Racers forced the Sycamores into 11 first half turnovers, but weren't able to turn them over in the second half until there was 4:01 remaining.
MSU did a good job on the day of slowing the Sycamores' transition game in allowing only four fast break points.
As the Racers travel to Bradley on Wednesday, they'll be looking for their fourth-straight road win, after recent victories at Evansville (Jan. 6), Missouri State (Jan. 10) and UIC (Jan. 17).
Today's game was a Stripe Out game at the CFSB Center where a total of 6,017 watched it. MSU's sixth in 10 games of the season with 5,000 or more and the Racers' top attended game of the season.
The Racers lead the MVC in the attendance category with 5,145 per game.
The Racers wore their gold uniforms today.

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. 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.