Gage Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
A Sivills family affair was in full effect at the CFSB Center on Tuesday, as Jackson’s Murray State Racers came away with the win over Will’s Transylvania Pioneers in a game their family will never forget.
The Murray State ties run deep within the Sivills family, starting with Scott Sivills who is from Cadiz, Kentucky, suited up for the Racers in 1989.
The 6’7″ forward played four seasons with Murray State from 1989-1993, serving as a backup to current Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach and former Racer big Popeye Jones at one point in his collegiate career.
Flash forward to the chaotic year that 2020 has been, a bright spot shone through as the Sivills brothers got to go head-to-head in the second half when Will checked in at the 5:13 mark with Jackson already on the floor.
“Really to put words on it doesn’t do it justice, because I mean since Will graduated from McCracken three or four years ago we haven’t really had a chance besides playing pickup in the summer to play with or against each other,” Jackson said. “It was surreal. I loved it, it was like playing in the backyard again.”
A little over a minute later, Jackson outran Will in transition and was fouled by sophomore guard Duce Ralls while sinking a layup. During the free throw words were exchanged between the brothers.
“I just told him I should’ve dunked it,” Jackson said. “I would’ve got my first college dunk, but I was just trying to get the bucket.”
Jackson finished with eight points on the night in 10 minutes of play, while Will got the start for the Pioneers and finished with six points.
“I mean he definitely had more points than me I believe,” Will said. “I think he had eight and I had six, so if you want to take it like that he won the war, but I mean I thought we both shot the ball well tonight, so I think we both came out on top tonight for sure.”
While Will got the start and more minutes in the game, he said Jackson still is winning the battle in basketball.
“I guess I got the upper hand on him, but he’s also going to college for free,” Will said.
While Will might not be playing for his dad’s former team like Jackson, getting to compete in the same arena he grew up watching games in was an exciting moment for him.
“It was great man,” Will said. “Growing up you know my dad played here, so we had season tickets ever since I can remember. I watched so many home games. It was great to experience that on the other side of things playing against them.”
Jackson and Will both acknowledged that this moment is a once in a lifetime opportunity and is something that they will be talking about for years to come.
“This is something I’m never going to forget for sure,” Will said. “I mean there’s not very many people that can come out and say they got to play against their sibling, so it’s something I’m always going to remember. And on the other side, my dad, he gets real antsy a lot of times, but he only called me once today and that’s a record. Usually he’d probably call me four or five times, so I’d say he was relatively calm today.”
Meanwhile, leading up to this point was a long and winding road for both teams. Murray State got off to a rough start, holding a 38-29 lead over the Division II school going into the second half.
However, Head Coach Matt McMahon’s message to the team at halftime took heed, as the Racers came out of the locker room locked in.
“[He told us to] really just do what we can do and play basketball,” said senior forward Devin Gilmore. “Because Coach Matt doesn’t want us to play like robots, as he and the other coaches say. So he just said ‘Do what you do. Do what you came here to do, play basketball.’”
And that they did. With 17:33 left, Murray State went on a blistering 19-1 run to take a 65-35 lead.
From there on, it was smooth sailing, as the Racers defense and bench helped guide them to a 90-49 win.
“[I] was really pleased with our second half,” McMahon said. “I thought our energy level was much higher and our intensity and attention to detail at the defensive end of the floor was much improved in the second half. I was excited to see us limit the turnovers. We still had some unforced errors in the first half, but only four turnovers in the second half.”
Murray State forced Transylvania into 16 turnovers, which they turned into 22 points off of turnovers.
The Racers also had two of their double-figure scorers come off the bench in Gilmore (10 points) and sophomore guard Chico Carter Jr (14 points), who led all scorers on 5-6 shooting from the field and 4-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
McMahon said Gilmore is a great finisher around the rim and that he’s a crucial player for the team at the defensive end of the floor when opponents have a smaller, more athletic player at the four.
“With Devin it’s his elite athleticism,” McMahon said. “He’s as good of an athlete that I’ve been around in all my years doing this and we want to make sure he takes advantage of that athleticism… I thought he was very good and brought great energy tonight.”
When it comes to Carter Jr.’s play off the bench, McMahon said it’s his ability to facilitate while being a threat to score each possession that has made the difference for him this season.
“He’s playing very efficiently offensively,” McMahon said. “I think with his strength he’s able to get to the basket and finish plays and he has shot the ball very consistently all season long. I think that’s a great credit to the work that he put in in the offseason, the confidence he’s playing with and his shot selection.”
Heading back into OVC play with their second matchup against rival Austin Peay in the upcoming week, McMahon said the Racers have a lot to improve on both defensively and offensively with some unforced turnovers that plagued them in the first half.
“We just have to keep getting better in all areas,” McMahon said. “I think defensively, we know it’s going to be a different game in Clarksville. We had a terrific performance here. They were a little banged up, we know they’ll be ready to go on Monday, but we have to continue to get better defensively so we can hopefully impact the game with our pressure and limit the domination of Taylor down there in the paint.”
The Racers will face off with the Governors on Monday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m. in Clarksville, Tennessee, looking to move to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in OVC play.
