Toughness Displayed – Racers Defeat the Bears at The Bank

Wednesday, February 14

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

Missouri State

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

Toughness Displayed – Racers Defeat the Bears at The Bank

2/14/2024 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers moved into a share of fourth place in the MVC

The Murray State Racers started hot and finished the same Wednesday with an 82-72 victory over the visiting Missouri State Bears at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The Racers (11-15) improved to 8-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference and advance into a share of fourth place as they hit the road for Des Moines, Iowa and a Sunday 1 p.m. clash with the Drake Bulldogs.

Nick Ellington went 10-of-13 from the field for 23 points to lead the Racers, while JaCobi Wood was only a pair of rebounds from a triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. Quincy Anderson added 16 points to the MSU offense and Rob Perry made it four MSU players in double-figures with 10 points.

Trailing for the ninth time this season at half when the Bears took a 27-35 lead at the halftime intermission, the Racers over game the midway deficit for the first time this season with a brilliant second half of outscoring Missouri State by 12 points, while shooting a 75 percent (21-of-28) from the field.

When Anderson made a steal and easy score at 11:51, the Racers had a 14-5 run as they hit 12 of their first 15 shots for a 61-52 lead. The Bears trimmed the Racers' lead to four points with 7:34 left, but MSU finished the game on a 13-8 run to put the game away.

The first half was an amazing game of runs right from the tip when the Racers started on a 16-0 run in the first three minutes and Bears answered with a 13-0 run to make it a 3-point MSU lead at 13:33.

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.

Game Notes

After trailing nine times this season at halftime, the Racers get their first win after trailing the Bears by two tonight.
With Nick Ellington's 23-point night, the Racers now have 11 games this season of a player scoring 20 points: Quincy Anderson (4), Ellington (3), Rob Perry (2), JaCobi Wood (1), Brian Moore, Jr. (1).
Wood flirted with a triple-double. The Racers' most recent triple-double was Ja Morant's game against Marquette in the 2019 NCAA Tournament when he scored 17/11/16.
Wood's career-high in assists is 11 three times: at Illinois State (2-15-12), vs Tulsa (11-20-22) and vs Valparaiso (3-2-23).
Malek Abldelgowad had another productive night off the MSU bench in 10 minutes of playing time by tying his career-high of eight points on 3-of-4 shooting with three steals.
Abdelgowad also scored eight points last week at Belmont.
Coach Steve Prohm is 4-1 all-time against the Missouri State Bears.
MSU is 3-0 against the Bears at the CFSB Center with wins here in 2018, 2023 and 2024.
5,021 watched it today at the CFSB Center. MSU's 10th crowd of 5,000 or larger this season.
MSU's 82 points tonight was their best points output since 85 in a win at UIC (Jan. 2).
The Racers entered the game ninth in NCAA DI with only 9.3 per game. They gave the ball up only eight times against the bears.
MSU has two home games in the regular season: vs Valparaiso (Feb. 24) and Belmont (Feb. 28).
The Racers are 8-7 in the MVC and in a 4-way tie for fourth place with Belmont, Southern Illinois and UNI.
Indiana State (13-2), Drake (12-3) and Bradley (10-5) make up the top-3.