Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
After opening its regular season with a blowout win over Southern University, Murray State men’s basketball will hit the road to take on the SEC’s own University of Tennessee, followed by a home matchup against Brescia University to wrap up the week.
Murray State
The Racers are coming off a dominant performance in which they defeated Southern University 69-49.
Sophomore guard Tevin Brown led the way for Murray State, going for 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting with 2-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
Sophomore forward KJ Williams followed that with a double-double performance of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while senior forward Anthony Smith also supplied 10 points and seven rebounds alongside him.
The Jaguars Head Coach Sean Woods was a familiar foe for the Racers, as he coached Morehead State University from 2012 to 2016.
While Murray State may have won in large fashion, Head Coach Matt McMahon said it wasn’t an easy challenge and will prepare them well for upcoming matchups.
“Well Coach Woods’ teams play extremely hard,” McMahon said. “They’re physical, they’re aggressive in their pressure on the basketball, they mix their coverages and that is an ultimate compliment to him. I think his teams can really make the game look ugly because of how hard they play defensively.”
Tennessee
The Volunteers are coming off their regular season opener as well, defeating UNC Asheville 78-63 at home. Tennessee had four players score in double figures to help claim its first win.
Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the country on multiple occasions last year, but ultimately had their season ended in the Elite Eight by Purdue University.
Head Coach Rick Barnes and company will be without its top-three scorers from a season ago, as Grant Williams (Boston Celtics), Admiral Schofield (Washington Wizards) and Jordan Bone (Detroit Pistons) are all pursuing professional basketball careers.
This leaves Tennessee with 48.8 ppg, 16.8 rpg and 11.0 apg to make up for. However, they do return two double-figure scorers in senior guards Jordan Bowden (13.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 5.8 apg) and Lamonte Turner (10.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.9 apg).
Rather than making up for their losses with just a few players, the Volunteers seem to be looking for a balanced team, with eight players playing double-digit minutes against UNC Asheville.
Despite the transformation Tennessee’s roster is making in terms of player roles, McMahon and his team are excited for the challenge they will provide.
“We know they’re a team for months at a time [that] was number one in the country,” McMahon said. “It’ll be a great environment and a great opportunity for us.”
While Murray State lost key contributors from last year’s team, Barnes and the Volunteers know the Racers have plenty of talent and experience and are going to be a tough team to beat.
“[They] very much play the way we like to play; inside-out,” Barnes said. “They got a really good post presence and are really solid defensively. They’ve got experienced guys that have played in some big games and they’ve added to that. They’ve got two really good shooters that you’ve really got to know where they are and I think they’re a really well-coached team.”
Brescia
Brescia will be coming off the end of the Madonna University Classic on Wednesday, Nov. 13, before heading to the CFSB Center for its matchup with the Racers.
This will be the third-straight season the two have faced off against each other, with Murray State coming away with double-digit victories in each of the last two seasons.
The Bearcats are coming off a season in which they finished 15-14, with an 11-7 conference record.
Game info
Murray State will head to Knoxville, Tennessee, first to take on the Volunteers at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and then make its way back to the CFSB Center for its matchup with Brescia at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
