The Murray State Racers men’s basketball team was not able to extend their win streak to three games, as they lost to the Utah Valley Wolverines 77-75 in heartbreaking fashion on Friday night.

Senior guard Terence Harcum played all but six minutes of the game, and was the leading scorer with 19 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, and 5-7 from three. Senior guard JaCobi Wood played all 40 minutes and finished with 15 points and eight assists with only two turnovers.

“We knew what we had to do to win this game,” Racers head coach Steve Prohm said. “We had to be better on the glass, we had to be better at the free throw line, we had to be better in the paint, and they beat us in all three of those categories.”

The Racers shot 46% from the field and just under 39% from long-range, but it was their struggles at the free throw line that got them into a bit of trouble. They shot 33 free throws to Utah Valley’s 16, but they converted just over 66% of them.

In the paint, the Racers were outscored by the Wolverines 46 to 30, and the situation on the glass was the same, as Murray State got outrebounded by 13.

Senior guard Kylen Milton made a three-pointer with 22 second left on the clock through contact, and was able to convert the and-one free throw to tie the game at 75 points apiece. The Wolverines missed a floater with a couple seconds on the clock, but were able to get the offensive rebound and deal the finishing blow with a putback layup.

“They gotta score in our house to win the game, and we don’t box out,” Prohm said. “We get a rebound there, we go into overtime and we’ve got all the momentum.”

This loss takes the Racers’ record to 3-2, which places them right in the middle of the Missouri Valley Conference standings early in the season.

The team will be looking to bounce back in their next game on the road against the UT Arlington Mavericks. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 26 in Jacksonville, Florida.