Gage Johnson
Editor-in-chief
Despite numerous chances late, Murray State couldn’t convert offensively and fell short, ending the season with a 68-65 overtime loss to Jacksonville State.
Neither team got off to a good start, both struggling to tickle the twine with a 2-9 start from the field. The two began a back-and-forth battle all throughout the first half, earning their baskets with tough defense from both sides.
It wasn’t until a 10-1 run in the middle of the second half from the Racers that either team was able to create any distance or momentum in the game. Capped off by a three from junior guard Tevin Brown, that run gave Murray State a 28-22 lead.
Brown and junior forward KJ Williams were leading the way for Murray State on this familiar stage they’d both been on in their first three seasons with the Racers.
The two helped the Racers hold onto a 31-29 lead going into the locker room, combining for 18 of their 31. The dynamic duo’s performance helped them climb back to 39% shooting for the half, while Murray State’s defense held its own by keeping JSU around the 31% mark from the field.
The Racers ability to get out in transition was the difference maker in the first half, winning that category 11-0, something that they weren’t able to do in their two regular season matchups with the Gamecocks.
JSU Head Coach Ray Harper said it’s been an emphasis for them all season long when playing Murray State and was something they talked about heavily in the locker room.
“It’s been important to us and I thought we did a poor job and we talked about it and addressed it at halftime,” Harper said. “Not getting back in transition and not knowing personnel. We left Tevin Brown wide open in the corner and bangs a three. We have to know personnel and when we did that we were pretty good, but in the first half I thought second shots and transition defense was poor on our part.”
In the second half it was a completely different story for the Racers, closing out the game with only 11 fastbreak points, but that didn’t deter them from almost coming away with a tournament win in the Ford Center.
Murray State jumped out to a 40-34 with 12:08 left to play thanks to holding the Gamecocks scoreless for nearly five minutes and a 7-0 run put on by Brown alone.
However, JSU wasn’t going away. Every time it seemed like the Racers were starting to put them away, the Gamecocks had an answer. And with 2:29 left to play, JSU’s ability to bounce back gave them their first lead since four minutes into the second half at 53-52.
Sophomore guard Justice Hill hit a massive three a minute later to put Murray State back in charge 55-53, but again the Gamecocks had an answer, as senior guard Darian Adams continued to do what he does best—make tough shots.
With the shot clock winding down Adams tried to create space off the dribble, but was forced to take a contested three over the extended arm of Williams and he drilled it.
Murray State couldn’t convert on the other end, sending JSU to the line, only for them to make 1-2 and give the Racers a chance to tie—and Brown did just that.
With 27 seconds left to play, Brown had maneuvered his way through the lane and sank a tough layup over senior JSU forward Brandon Huffman to knot things up at 57.
Going for the game-winner, Adams three clanked off the side of the rim as the horn sounded, sending the first-round bout into overtime.
The two continued to go blow-for-blow in overtime, with neither creating much separation on either end of the floor.
But it was JSU who gained a lot of momentum thanks to a big offensive rebound bucket by senior forward Kayne Henry, giving them a 67-65 lead with 35.7 seconds left.
After a Murray State timeout, Williams turned the ball over and the Racers immediately applied full court pressure.
They forced a timeout with their pressure and JSU launched the ball onto their side of the floor, only for it to find the hands of Williams to give Murray State another chance to knot things up.
Brown and Williams ran a pick-and-pop, giving Williams a three open at the top of the key. Williams three did fall short and was corralled by the Gamecocks, but they gave the Racers one last chance after sinking 1-2 at the line.
With 10.5 seconds left, the Racers worked for an open look, ultimately finding Brown for a three on the wing that hit off the front of the rim and after a little scrum on the floor, found the hands of Hill.
With a clean look from the top of the key, Hill let his biggest shot attempt of the season fly, only for it to miss as the buzzer sounds and ended the Racers season with a 68-65 overtime loss.
JSU has had Murray State’s number all season long, but this game clearly had a different feel to it with the intensity and physicality the Racers played with. Brown said that coming into the game, that was their focal point.
“Just to play hard,” Brown said. “I feel like the first two games we didn’t play hard at all on the defensive end, but tonight we came to play on both ends of the floor.”
Williams and Brown did all they could offensively to get Murray State the first round win, but no other player finished with more than five points for the Racers, thus stifling any hopes of putting the Gamecocks away all night.
“I thought KJ and Tevin were really terrific offensively and on the glass,” said Head Coach Matt McMahon. “I think they combined for 47 points and 16 rebounds. We had some other guys open for some looks, but we just didn’t shoot it at a very high percentage and missed some opportunities there when they were converging on Tevin or helping down in the post on KJ. We just weren’t able to knock down enough of those other opportunities.”
Murray State showed glimpses of stellar play all season long, but on so many occasions—just like all three of their matchups with JSU—they couldn’t get the job done.
After the game, McMahon took full responsibility for the season that they had, saying that he didn’t do a good enough job of instilling that winning culture that he had so far in his tenure with the Racers.
“When you’re a leader, it’s your responsibility to build a winning culture or in our case going into this season, sustain a winning culture that drives behavior that leads to winning results,” McMahon said. “It’s no one elses responsibility, it’s my responsibility and I didn’t get it done at the level it needs to be done to where you can perform consistently on and off the court in practice and ultimately on the game floor. I think that’s my responsibility and certainly didn’t perform to the level that was needed to sustain the winning culture that we’ve built here.”
McMahon acknowledged that the season did not go the way they wanted it to and said that they will be reevaluating things immediately going into the offseason, looking to return the program to its winning ways in the 2021-22 season.
The loss for Murray State gives them a 13-13 overall record on the season, while finishing 10-10 in OVC play.
