Gage Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
Up 50-23, Murray State was on its way to moving to 13-3 in OVC play. However, junior guard Josiah Wallace and EIU had other ideas, outscoring the Racers 40-10 in the final 11:45 of play and sinking a near buzzer-beating three to claim a 63-60 win.
Murray State men’s basketball had almost gained a 30-point lead on the backs of a dominant first half in which the Panthers struggled to get anything going offensively.
EIU trailed 25-12 with a little under three minutes remaining in the first half, with junior guard George Dixon accounting for 10 of the 12. The Panthers also struggled mightily from deep in the first half, toting a 1-for-14 clip.
The Racers were coasting to a 20-plus-point victory until the Panthers kickstarted a comeback much like the previous matchup between the two teams..
On Jan. 30, Murray State had built itself a 14-point lead against EIU until a Wallace-led comeback fell short with a game-tying three missing at the buzzer.
Wallace again led the Panthers back from a 27-point deficit, with a little help from Murray State turnovers and a late barrage of threes.
The Racers turned the ball over seven times in the 11:45 stretch, finishing the game with a total of 16 turnovers leading to 18 points for EIU.
“It’s tough to swallow, but that’s college basketball for you,” Head Coach Matt McMahon said. “Credit to them for the difficult shots they hit, but we contributed to it with poor decision making offensively and the inability to finish plays.”
Flipping the script on their first-half shooting woes from beyond the arc, the Panthers shot 7-for-9 in the final 11:45.
“Credit to Eastern Illinois,” McMahon said. “I thought as good as our three-point defense was for 34, 35 minutes, it went out the window there down the stretch and they hit some big shots and found a way to get a historic win.”
After not registering a single bucket in the first half, Wallace was a scoring machine as the driving force of EIU’s comeback.
While Murray State struggled to score, Wallace hit a number of tough shots, including a fall away three that fell through the net and sealed the 63-60 comeback win. Wallace finished the night with 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field, while going 3-for-5 from three.
“We just couldn’t stop him down the stretch,” McMahon said. “The last five minutes, you know, tough call on the and-one there to cut it to three, but he hit some tough step-backs and 25, 26-footers. He did what a first team all-league guy does when the money is on the line and you gotta tip your cap to him.”
The Racers had 0.4 seconds on the clock after Wallace’s three, but that was not nearly enough time to sink a game-tying three.
Murray State still had a solid offensive night, turning in 44% shooting with sophomore guard Tevin Brown (13 pts), senior guard Jaiveon Eaves (13 pts) and senior forward Anthony Smith (11 pts) all scoring in double figures.
McMahon took ownership of the loss, saying the team did a decent job down the stretch offensively but failed to finish sequences, and unnecessary turnovers came back to bite them.
“It was really unfortunate,” McMahon said. “We got to the bucket a couple of times, missed a few layups, we missed free throws. For that result to take place, everything that had to happen happened. That’s my responsibility. I didn’t get our guys in the right position to win the game.”
Murray State now sits at 19-8 overall, with a 12-3 OVC record that moves them to second place in the conference, one game back of Austin Peay.
The Racers will look to turn things around when they take on SIUE at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Vadalabene Center.
“It’s going to be tough,” McMahon said. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of as players and coaches. When you’re part of a historic collapse like this, you can let it define you and this can be the end of our season if we want it to be, or we can respond and get back to work tomorrow and prepare to find a way to win Saturday afternoon.”
