While students were packing up and heading home to enjoy a relaxing winter break, Murray State men’s basketball was working to perfect their craft for the upcoming conference season.

The team had major wins over good programs, while also suffering gut-wrenching defeats that tell the story of the first half of their season. With that being said, let’s take a look at how they performed since the beginning of winter break.

Start of the break, Dec. 3-18

The men’s team looked superb heading into winter break, holding a 5-2 record and starting off Missouri Valley Conference play 1-0 after beating Evansville in a game that went down to the buzzer.

Despite leading by as much as 11 points, Murray State couldn’t close the door on the Purple Aces. Evansville tied the game at 58 and forced Murray State to commit two turnovers in the final 1:15. However, the Racers were able to hang on and win 63-61.

The Racers relied heavily on senior guard JaCobi Wood, as he scored 21 points, five rebounds and six assists in the win over Evansville. The win was the third straight MVC opening game win for Murray State, beating Illinois State 70-67 in overtime in 2022 and beating Bradley 79-72 last season.

A former Ohio Valley Conference foe in Southeast Missouri State was welcomed to the CFSB Center for the first time since 2021. Murray State took control in the second half and won handily 73-53. Wood went for back-to-back 20-point games, scoring 23 against the Redhawks. The Racers outscored SEMO 40-20 in the 2nd half and held the Redhawks to 27% from the field in the half.

Western Kentucky was the next opponent for Murray State, and Bowling Green was the host of a matchup between the Racers and Hilltoppers for the first time since 2014. History wasn’t on the Racers’ side as they were 2-3 against the Hilltoppers in Diddle Arena since 2003.

The Racers went to halftime with a 39-33 lead, but it was erased almost immediately as WKU went on a 16-3 run to take a 49-42 lead before Murray State made another basket. Both teams made shots until they ended up at 51 points each with just under 11 minutes to play.

The Racers got the lead up to as high as eight points over the Hilltoppers, but WKU wouldn’t back down. An 11-4 run at the end of the second half would send the game to overtime. WKU went on a 10-2 run to beat Murray State for the second straight year, 81-76.

The next game for the Racers was the first road conference game of the season against the defending MVC regular season champions, the Indiana State Sycamores. This was another game where recent history wasn’t in favor of Murray State because the Racers were on a three-game losing streak against the Sycamores dating back to 2023.

Indiana State came out of the gates hot, shooting 51% from the field and 50% from behind the three-point line. Shades of last year’s Sycamore team were seeping through, despite the immense amount of transfers that left this past offseason.

Early in the second half, the Sycamores extended the lead to 22 points and looked as if the Racers were going to need to start the bus early. Murray State, however, had other plans.

Murray State whittled down the Sycamore lead and got it to single digits with just over six minutes left, thanks to a pair of free throws by Wood. Senior guard Terence Harcum hit a pair of threes to cut the lead to four with 1:33 left in the game, but that was as close as the Racers could get.

A theme of the season for the Racers had shown up a few times but this game proved it to be true. This Murray State team doesn’t know what the word “quit” means. No matter the situation they find themselves in, this team will not give up. Something Head Coach Steve Prohm is happy to see.

“Man, they have some toughness to them,” Prohm said at a press conference in early January. “But the one thing I’ve learned is these guys want to be coached, they’ve got elite character and they are worthy of the fight.”

Racers go to Hawaii, Dec. 22-25

Following back-to-back losses, Murray State received an early Christmas gift. They flew from Indiana straight to Honolulu, Hawaii, to get ready for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, a midseason multi-team event that takes place every year during the week of Christmas. This year’s field consisted of Murray State, Nebraska, Charlotte, Loyola-Chicago, Oregon State, Hawaii, Charleston and Oakland.

The Racers didn’t have an easy path to the championship, as they were matched up against the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten Conference for their first game.

Murray State was 2-0 all-time against Nebraska going into this game, beating the Cornhuskers in Puerto Rico in 1990 81-79 and then in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2000 79-71.

The Racers struggled in the first half, scoring 14 points which was the lowest amount of points scored in a half in the history of the Diamond Head Classic. They went 4-for-28 from the field, with three of those makes being three-point shots. Murray State outscored Nebraska in the second half, but the 20-point deficit was too much for the Racers to overcome, with Nebraska winning the game 66-49.

Murray State had a quick turnaround, as they had to play the Charlotte 49ers the next day in the very last college basketball game of the day. It was the second-ever meeting between the teams.

Charlotte led by seven going into halftime, but Murray State shot significantly better than they had the night prior, shooting 37% from the field. Murray State took the lead in the second half, but a three-pointer by Charlotte’s Giancarlo Rosado with less than a second remaining in regulation saw the game go to overtime.

Overtime was back and forth but, with 44 seconds remaining, a pair of made free throws by Terence Harcum sent the game to a second overtime period. It was the first time in the event’s history that a double-overtime game would be played. Unfortunately for Murray State, Charlotte took the lead with the first made basket of the second overtime and never gave it up. The final score was 94-90 and saw the Racers lose their fourth straight game.

The guys got to relax on Christmas Eve before they played the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Christmas Day in the 7th-place game of the event. All of the players, managers, staff and families got together for a time of reflection on what Christmas means to them. It was a very emotional moment for the program, but Prohm said it was something that would “build and shape” the team as they get back to Murray.

“I just wanted the guys to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, (the) meaning of their families and the meaning of their greatness,” Prohm said in a video posted on the men’s basketball X account. “This team’s got a high ceiling. It’s my job as a leader to lead the fight and not waver in my beliefs and my faith.”

While most people opened gifts and spent time with family, the men’s team prepared for a Christmas Day game against Loyola-Chicago. The Ramblers were in the MVC but left to join the Atlantic 10 Conference the same year that Murray State joined the Missouri Valley. Fans of both teams and the Missouri Valley Conference were excited to watch this matchup, the former top dog versus the new kids that filled their spot.

The Racers were down two at halftime, 36-34, and Loyola-Chicago extended their lead to 11 just 2:30 into the second half. As previously mentioned, this Murray State team doesn’t give up and it showed on Christmas day.

Cutting the Rambler lead to three at five different points in the second half, Murray State finally broke through to take the lead thanks to a made pair of free throws by Harcum and a made 3-pointer by Wood at the 4:54 mark. Harcum buried a 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the game that gave the Racers the lead for the rest of the game.

Murray State knocked off the Ramblers of Loyola-Chicago by a score of 71-68 and gave all of Racer Nation one of the best gifts they could ask for: a win to end their losing streak.

MVC Play Resumes, Jan. 2-11

Murray State’s non-conference schedule was finally complete, but the season was just getting started. The rest of the MVC schedule was on deck. First up for the Racers after the new year turned over? The Illinois State Redbirds.

Murray State beat Illinois State in both matchups of the Racers inaugural MVC season in 2022, but lost both meetings of the 2023 season. The average winning margin for their first four MVC meetings was 2.5 points, with each game being determined by four points or less.

The Redbirds took an eight point lead into halftime and was another example of Murray State playing a worse first half compared to the second half of games. The Racers have only scored more points in the first half four times this season and have scored 93 more points in the second half of games than in the first half.

This stat makes you wonder how different some of these games would’ve finished had it been for a better first half performance by the Racers.

Despite cutting the Redbird lead down to one on three different occasions, the Racers could never take the lead. They would drop their first game of 2025 by a score of 74-68. Winning in the Missouri Valley is hard, but it’s more difficult when the opposing team’s shooting splits for the game are 53/40/88.

Murray State looked to get back in the win column as they traveled to Iowa to play both Drake and Northern Iowa. Their first stop was in Des Moines, Iowa, for a meeting with the Bulldogs of Drake.

Murray State was 0-4 against Drake since joining the MVC, playing them three times in the 2022-23 season and only once in the 2023-24 season. The Racers played Drake twice before joining the conference, beating them in 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee, and losing to them in Estero, Florida in 2019.

The score was 26-26 going into halftime but the Racers took a 12-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Bulldogs took a one-point lead with 2:09 left, but a Terence Harcum 3-pointer gave the Racers the lead and they never looked back. Murray State notched their first win against the Bulldogs in conference play and their second conference win of this season. The win also ended Drake’s 28-game home winning streak, which was tied for second most in Division 1 basketball, behind Houston’s 30-game streak.

The Racers then made their way to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for a matchup with the UNI Panthers. Murray State beat UNI last season by 28 points in Cedar Falls, which was their first-ever win against the Panthers.

Murray State built up an 11-point lead with 7:25 remaining but the Panthers didn’t go away quietly. UNI went on a 19-7 run to take a one point lead with 36 seconds to go. Terence Harcum hit a floater with 12 seconds left and then was fouled after a JaCobi Wood steal and hit both free throws to finish the Panthers off, 71-68.

A big spark for the Racers was junior forward Alden Applewhite, who had 11 points and was 3-for-4 from the three-point line off the bench.

With the win over UNI, the Racers were the fourth MVC team to beat both Iowa schools since 2017-18. According to Jeff Bidwell of RacerBasketball.com, they were the first team since 2009 to beat both Drake and UNI on the road in a 72-hour span.

The final game of winter break saw Murray State host the Valparaiso Beacons and look to go on a three- game winning streak for the second time this season. The Racers were also looking for their fifth straight win against the Beacons in MVC play.

Murray State hit shots right from the opening tipoff, going 6-for-10 from the field and took a 13-4 lead. Valpo started to find their groove, but the Racers took a 26-21 lead into halftime.

The Racers extended their lead in the second half to 13 thanks to an Applewhite three with six minutes remaining. Murray State won the game 57-46 and played with a lead for over 37 minutes of the game.