Racers Continue Winning Ways On the Road at UNI

Saturday, February 3

Cedar Falls, Iowa

1 p.m.

Murray State

9-14,6-6MVC

Northern Iowa

12-11,6-6MVC

Murray St.

UNI

Photo by: Ellie Marmie-UNI Athletics

2/3/2024 2:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers took on the Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls Saturday afternoon

The Murray State Racers scored another impressive road win Saturday with a 71-43 victory over the Northern Iowa Panthers at the McCleod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Racers (9-14) are now 6-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference as they travel to Nashville, Tennessee Wednesday to take on the Belmont Bruins at 7 p.m.

Rob Perry paced a day when eight different Racers scored with 17 points on 8-of-16 from the field, while JaCobi Wood added 14 points with all of them coming in the second half and MSU got 12 points from Quincy Anderson.

At the start, a 6-0 run gave the Racers their first lead when Alden Applewhite sank a pair of free throws at 13:38. Perry, who hit four of MSU's first five baskets, hit the Racers' first 3-pointer and then a jumper to put the Racers on top 15-13 at 8:08. The Racers showed another run when Anderson hit a three and drew a charge and Brian Moore, Jr., scored across the lane with 1:36 left, to give the Racers a lead of 17 at 33-16. When the Racers made it to the halftime intermission, they had limited the Panthers to just 18 points on 7-of-25 for 28 percent and enjoyed a 35-18 lead.

The Racers began the second half on an 11-3 run as they kept the pressure on UNI with baskets from Morgan, Nick Ellington, wood and Applewhite built MSU's lead to 25 points (46-21) with 15:15 remaining. MSU kept the momentum going and outscored the Panthers 36-25 in the second half and had their largest lead of the day at 31 points when Moore scored to make it 69-38 with 4:21 remaining.

Game Notes

MSU gets its first win over UNI in their three games played since joining the MVC last season.
In The Valley, the Racers were the first team to win four road games in league play when the final buzzer sounded. SIU and Bradley soon joined the Racers when their games went final at UIC and Illinois State.
The Racers have road wins in MVC play at Evansville (Jan. 6) 81-59, at Missouri State (Jan. 10), 77-53, at UIC (Jan. 17) 73-58 and at UNI (Feb. 3) 71-43.
The 28-point win for MSU matches their largest MVC win after they defeated Valparaiso at Arch Madness last March in St. Louis.
MSU holding UNI to 43 points matches their best road defensive effort since they held Tennessee Tech to 39 and won in Cookeville 43-39 on Jan. 24, 2013.
The Racers held UNI to zero field goals in the final 5:52 of the first half.
In the final 5:52, the Racers run to the end of the half was 15-2.
After the game was tied at 13-13 at 9:01, the Racers advantage to the end of the half was 22-5.
The 18 points for the Panthers represented the Racers' best performance on defense in a first half this season, a point better than the 19 they held Missouri State to on Jan. 10.
Malek Abdelgowad entered the game with 4:25 remaining in the first half, marking his first appearance since the game at Little Rock (Dec. 18).
Abdelgowad scored both of his shot attempts for four points and grabbed a pair of rebounds in 4:23 of court time.
The Racers' defensive effort limited UNI's duo of Nate Heise and Bowen Born who entered the game averaging 27.9 points in to only six points, all by Heise.

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.