Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
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The Murray State men’s basketball team continued their impressive season run on Monday, Jan. 25, with a 79-53 win over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.
Junior forward KJ Williams had his second straight double-double in the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds. After the game, he said he just focuses on playing basketball and helping his team win.
“We just come out and play our game,” Williams said. “I feel like I can score easily. Credit to my teammates, they get me open shots and know I can score well. If that doesn’t work, I just pass it off to them so they can get points.”
Tennessee Tech got off to a strong start with an 11-2 run over the first 4:28. Sophomore forward Daniel Ramsey led the Golden Eagles in that run with four points. Freshman forward Kenny White Jr. and sophomore guard Keishawn Davidson also contributed with two and three points, respectively.
After calling a timeout, the Racers answered with a 14-0 run of their own. The run began with a layup from freshman forward Nicholas McMullen, and junior Tevin Brown contributed with a three-pointer and a layup.
Williams said the team had to regroup after the slow start so they could compete in the game.
“We came out [kind of] sluggish,” Williams said. “After the timeout, we came out and played hard, fed off of each other’s energy and never looked back.”
Sophomore guard Daquan Smith had the last points of the run with a three-pointer of his own, putting the Racers up 16-11.
Following their 14-0 run, the Racers kept their foot on the gas. Williams made a tough layup for the Racers, then followed it up with back-to-back dunks that got the crowd on its feet. Those shots put the Racers up 22-16 with 8:57 to go in the first half.
Brown was fouled and made one free throw to begin another 9-0 for the Racers that saw two more shots from Williams and a layup from sophomore guard Trae Hannibal.
Even after the run ended, Williams and McMullen continued their scoring with another layup each, and sophomore guard Justice Hill tacked on two free throws as well. This put the Racers up 37-20 with just two minutes to go in the first half.
The Golden Eagles shortened the lead with a jumper from White Jr. and a dunk from Ramsey, but a layup from Hannibal kept the Racers ahead by 15 at halftime. As the two teams went back to the locker rooms, the Racers were up 39-24.
After the 11-2 run to start the game, the Racers held the Golden Eagles to just 13 points the rest of the half and scored 27 points in that time. Williams led the Racers in both points and rebounds at half with 14 points and five rebounds.
The Golden Eagles were the first to strike in the second half with a jumper from Ramsey and a layup from junior guard Junior Clay. Hill was quick to answer with a layup, but White Jr. answered with a layup of his own to cut the lead to 11.
Sophomore forward DJ Burns was fouled and hit two free throws to get the points back. Hill followed it up with a three-pointer to put the Racers up 46-30.
Later on in the half, Brown hit a contested three-pointer, and Hannibal followed it up with a driving layup to extend the Racers lead to 18. Ramsey and Clay kept the Racers from pulling away with a pair of layups to keep the lead at 14.
As the half went on, the Racers slowly began to pull away. Williams took the lead to 20 with a layup and a dunk that put him at 21 points on the night. Burns followed with a dunk of his own and McMullen got a layup to fall, putting the Racers up 71-49.
The Racers finished their scoring on the night with layups from Burns, Hill and freshman guard Dionte Bostick. With those last points, the Racers defeated the Golden Eagles by a score of 79-53.
Williams led the Racers with 21 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Brown with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. Hill had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
White Jr. led the Golden Eagles with 12 points and five assists, while Ramsey had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists.
The Racers outrebounded the Golden Eagles 46 to 29. They also scored 19 points off of 15 forced turnovers from the Golden Eagles.
The Racers won their sixth game in the last 12 days with the win over the Golden Eagles. Head Coach Matt McMahon spoke about the challenge of playing so many games in such a short time. He said it is certainly a challenge, but the team was up for it.
“We’ve got a tough group,” McMahon said. “They work really hard. They will be ready to roll Thursday. I think it’s just mental toughness, that’s where it starts … and it helps to have really good players, which we do.”
Burns spoke postgame about the team’s toughness on the court as the season progresses. He said it comes down to not just knowing the plays but having pride in your play.
“To me, it’s all pride,” Burns said. “Pride on your assignment, pride on the opponent that’s in front of you. It comes down to, after the x’s and o’s and everything the coach tells you, to outworking your opponent and having pride.
Murray State improved to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in the OVC with the win. The Racers, who are on an eight-game win streak, will run it back against the Golden Eagles in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Thursday, Jan. 27.
