Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
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Basketball season kicked off with a blowout 109-77 win for the Murray State men’s basketball team as they defeated the Cumberland University Phoenix on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

Junior forward KJ Williams set a career high in points with 32 in the game while junior guard Tevin Brown scored 21 points and managed to grab seven rebounds.

Williams spoke on his career high in points after the game. He said he had a lot of confidence in himself which allowed him to shoot well throughout the game. 

“I came in early today and tried to work on my shots,” Williams said. “It turned out very well… I’ve got some great people behind me. We have some key plays to get people open shots inside and outside the arch so we can all get a chance to score.”

Cumberland took a quick and early lead with a three-point basket from senior guard Tavon King. Williams answered with a three-pointer of his own on the other end, but junior guard Tyler Byrd made another three for the Phoenix to make it 6-3.

Sophomore guard Justice Hill came back with a three-pointer for the Racers followed up by another three-pointer from Williams to give the Racers a 10-6 lead.

Williams remained perfect from three-point-range on his next shot with a three-point shot from the top of the key to extend the Racers’ lead to 15-8.

Freshman forward Nicholas McMullen came off the bench and quickly scored his first points of the game with a layup. Brown made a three-pointer on the Racers’ next possession to give them a 20-11 lead. 

Brown was fouled on the Racers’ next possession and went to the line to shoot three free-throws. He missed all three and junior guard Jordan Stevens made sure Brown paid the price with a three-pointer on the other end. Brown managed to get his points back, though, with a three-pointer on the Racers end of the court. This put the Racers ahead 23-14.

Later on in the half, Williams made another three-pointer that put him at 13 points and 4-4 shooting from the field. The scoring kept coming for the Racers as senior guard Carter Collins made a three-pointer to make it 37-21 in favor of the Racers.

Collins spoke postgame about his first game as a part of the Racers. He said his time in Murray has been a long time coming.

“It was amazing,” Collins said. “There was a lot of built up excitement. There was a lot of hard work, effort and time put into this. To get that first game off my chest was exciting and fun. I enjoyed it.”

The Phoenix started to form a comeback as time started to wind down with a three-pointer from senior guard Kelvin Jackson and a layup from King. Williams held the Phoenix off with his fifth three-pointer of the game, but Cumberland kept fighting back with a three-pointer from Byrd.

Williams managed to make a layup but King quickly answered with one of his own to end the half and cut the deficit to just 10. At halftime, the Racers led the Phoenix 55-45.

At halftime, Williams led the Racers with 22 points on 7-7 shooting from the field and 5-5 shooting from three-point range. Brown recorded 11 points and six rebounds with 3-7 shooting from the field. 

King led the Phoenix in the first half with 10 points, followed closely behind by senior guard Aaron Ridley with nine. As a team, Cumberland had just four assists in the half, all of which came from sophomore guard Tj Stargell.

The second half was ruled by the Racers, who started the half with an 8-0 run. The run included a layup from sophomore forward DJ Burns as well as a three pointer and a mid-range shot from Brown.

The Racers continued to build on their lead with a three-pointer from Collins that was followed by a dunk from Williams. This put the Racers up 70-50.

An alley-oop dunk from sophomore guard Trae Hannibal to senior forward Jordan Skipper-Brown sparked another run for the Racers. During the run, Brown made another three-pointer for the Racers, followed by a layup from Skipper-Brown to give the Racers a 79-51 lead.

Later in the half, King made a three-pointer to try to cut the deficit, but the Racers continued their push to grow the lead with a pair of layups from Williams and Hill to give the Racers a 89-59 lead.

The Racers were able to hit 100 points in the game with a layup from Hannibal late in the half, then cross 100 with another layup from Hannibal to make it 102-70 in favor of Murray State.

The Racers grew their lead a little more with a layup from sophomore guard Rod Thomas to end the game. The Racers defeated the Phoenix 109-77.

Williams and Brown finished with 32 points and 21 points, respectively. Williams shot 12-13 from the field and 5-6 from three point range. Brown also recorded seven rebounds and five assists. Hill ended the game with 12 points and 8 assists.

Head Coach Matt McMahon spoke about the team’s performance during the game. He said he was happy with the team’s performance, especially on offense.

“I was really pleased with our players’ unselfishness and execution on the offensive side of the floor,” McMahon said. “I hope we can shoot the ball like that all season long… I think we have a talented team. We just have to keep building the team and getting better each day in practice.”

The Racers start their season with a 1-0 record. They continue their season at home on Saturday, Nov. 13, when they take on Bellarmine University at 7 p.m.