Ferguson's 21 Pushes Racers Past UTA

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

11/26/2024 8:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Racers won for a fourth time this season in a neutral site game in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Murray State Racers built a 20-point first half lead and held off the UT Arlington Mavericks 79-66 in Jacksonville, Florida.

A rare single-game neutral site game was played at Florida State College of Jacksonville at their on-campus arena.

The Racers (4-2) head home to Murray to enjoy Thanksgiving before returning to the CFSB Center Tuesday (Dec. 3) to begin Missouri Valley Conference play against the Evansville Purple Aces.

On a night when the Racers started hot, it was AJ Ferguson's career-high that led five MSU players in double-figure scoring including Nick Ellington with 14, Kylen Milton added 13 and MSU got 10 points each from Alden Applewhite and Terence Harcum.

The Racers put together a 23-9 run to take a 13-point advantage on JaCobi Wood's 3-pointer with 9:51 before the half. Terence Harcum and KyeRon Lindsay scored in consecutive possessions and the Racers went in front 36-19 at 7:55. At this point, the Racers were shooting 70 percent from the field on 14-of-20.

At the intermission, Murray State's lead was 44-30.

The Mavericks made a run by outscoring the Racers 20-9 to cut the lead to three points with 11:17 remaining. However, the Racers responded with an 11-0 run fueled by a Harcum 3-pointer and a basketball plus the foul to go in front 67-54. MSU brought home the win as UTA never got any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Ferguson's 21 points on 6-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line and he had a team-high eight rebounds.
His previous career-best was a year ago this month for the Southern Illinois Salukis with 20 points against Chicago State (11-16-23).
The Racers have put five players in double-figure scoring in four of six games this season.
KyeRon Lindsay impacted the game on defense with three steals and four blocked shots.
The Racers will be looking to improve their free throw shooting as they've had back-to-back games of missing 11 of them against Utah Valley and UTA.
UTA entered the today's game with some recent hot shooting from the 3-point line, but the Racers held the Mavericks in check as they were 4-of-17.
UTA was averaging more than 10 3-pointers per game.
The Racers' next road test of at Western Kentucky (Dec. 14) when they'll be going for back to back road wins.
Last January, the Racers won three in a row on the road with victories at Evansville (Jan. 6), Missouri State (Jan. 10) and UIC (Jan. 17).

Visit GoRacers.com for information in tickets, or call the CFSB Center ticket hotline at 270-809-3000.

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