Racers Survive Furious Evansville Rally For MVC Opening Win

Tuesday, December 3

Murray, Ky.

7 p.m.

Murray State

5-2,1-0MVC

Evansville

3-5,0-1MVC

Evansville

Murray St.

Photo by: Stephen Furst

Racers Survive Furious Evansville Rally For MVC Opening Win

12/3/2024 8:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers began their third season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference

The Murray State Racers opened their third season in the Missouri Valley Conference Tuesday with a 63-61 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (5-2) survived a late charge by Evansville in the final minute to win their third-straight opener in The Valley. The Racers return to action Sunday against old rival Southeast Missouri in a 3 p.m. tipoff at The Bank.

JaCobi Wood scored a season-high 21 points with six rebounds and five assists for the Racers, while Kylen Milton scored his fifth double-digit game of the season with 12 points and seven rebounds to pace the MSU attack.

Leading 33-25 at halftime, the Racers held off the Aces leading by as little as eight points and as much as 10, but never able to pull away in the first 10 minutes. Terence Harcum and Wood hit back-to-back threes for a 57-51 lead at 5:08 left, but the Racers defended three straight possessions with the lead on the line before UE tied the game 58-58 at 1:22. AJ Ferguson's three-point play with 55 seconds remaining put the Racers in front for good, but MSU had to survive a 3-point attempt for the win at the buzzer from Evansville.

Game Notes

The Racers have won all three of the MVC openers since joining The Valley in 2022.
All three opening wins have come at home: 70-67 in overtime vs Illinois State in 2022 and 2023 against Bradley 79-72.
This game found both teams coming off lengthy breaks as the Aces were playing for the first time in nine days and the Racers hadn't played in a week.
Wood had a 15-point first half, but didn't score a field goal again until 9:20 left to play.
Harcum has hit a 3-point basket in all seven games for the Racers this season.
The Racers hit 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the wild final two minutes to get the win.
The Racers managed to defend their home court by overcoming a second half when they had more turnovers (11) than field goals (10).
For the game, UE made 25 field goals to MSU's 22, but the Racers still won the game by making more threes (7-4) and free throws (12-7).
The last time the Racers won a game making less field goals than their opponent, was the MVC the opener a year ago against Bradley (28-27 FG) but won the game 79-72 (11-29-23).
Sunday's game marks the 89^th meeting between the Racers and Redhawks, who competed in the Ohio Valley Conference from 1992 to 2022.
The Racers lead the all-time series 67-21 and are 32-10 at home.
The Racers and SEMO first met in 1931.

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

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