Story by Blake Sandlin
Sports Editor
Murray State shook off its first conference loss of the season by cementing a dominant 100-62 win over Tennessee State Saturday night.
A top-to-bottom effort by the Racers helped them engineer their most lopsided OVC victory of the season. Four Racers finished in double figures as the team moved to 16-3 on the year and 7-1 in conference play.
Sophomore guard Ja Morant rebounded from a lackluster game against Belmont by finishing with 24 points and nine assists in 28 minutes of action. Senior guard Shaq Buchanan and junior forward Darnell Cowart managed 18 points apiece.
Cowart compounded an impressive 14 point, 13 rebound outing against Belmont on Thursday by compiling nine rebounds to go with his 18 points.
“I think [Cowart’s] really improving,” said Head Coach Matt McMahon. “He’s a great young man; he’s got a high level of character, and he wants to be really good. We’ve got to keep pushing him to get there.”
Even junior guard Jaiveon Eaves (13 points) and sophomore forward Devin Gilmore (five points, eight rebounds) piled onto the onslaught. The two players, who together average just over 10 minutes per game, played 35 minutes Saturday night, a stark change that Head Coach Matt McMahon explained pointedly.
“Earned,” McMahon said. “Earned in practice. Devin’s had two really good weeks of practice that he’s put together. His energy and activity level has been off the charts; he’s been finishing plays. He’s been all over the glass in practice. Earned the time, and I’m really proud of him because he took advantage of his time.”
“I thought Jaiveon’s made great strides defensively,” McMahon said of Eaves. “In the first half, he bailed us out a few times. We had some breakdowns, and just by playing extremely hard he made up for those mistakes and made some plays. We all know that he’s an elite shooter and can really score the ball. So it’s really no offense to anyone on our roster, but those two guys earned their playing time in practice.”
Defense was the driver for McMahon’s team throughout. At halftime, they led Tennessee State 60-22, holding it to just 24.1 percent shooting. Much of the credit for the Racers’ defensive stand can be attributed to just six total turnovers, which is a new season-low.
“I think it’s important,” McMahon said. “I haven’t gone back and looked at the numbers yet, but probably one of our most efficient games offensively. Usually when you have a high efficiency game like that, your turnovers are extremely low. I think we had two in the first half, four in the second. I thought our decision-making was better. We didn’t try to hit many home runs; we just hit a lot of singles.”
One game after Murray State fans came out in droves to signal a record-breaking, sell-out crowd of 8,969 for Belmont on Thursday, the Racer faithful showed no signs of a hangover. The CFSB Center was packed with 7,059 people Saturday night, marking the second-highest home attendance total of the 2018-19 season.
“I really want to thank the crowd. After just an insane crowd Thursday night, and then to follow it up with just over 7,000 more, I thought was just really special.”
The home-court luxury will vanish next week for Murray State, as the team will take to Jacksonville State for a 7:15 p.m. matchup with the Gamecocks on Thursday, Jan. 31, in Jacksonville, Alabama.
