The power outages plaguing the campus of Murray State University affected another of the Murray State men’s basketball team’s home games. After having to travel down to Belmont for a “home game” against Northern Iowa, the team was forced to go back to Carbondale for the second time this season for their “home” game against the Southern Illinois University Salukis.
The game was tightly contested for the first 14:34 of the first half. A 3-pointer by Murray State senior guard JaCobi Wood with 5:26 left in the first half gave the Racers their biggest lead of the game up to that point. Murray State’s lead reached as much as 13 in the half but SIU brought the lead down to single digits, going into halftime down nine. Wood finished the half with 15 points.
SIU showed some fight coming out of the halftime break, going on a 9-0 run over the first 4:46 of the second half to tie the game at 33. The Salukis continued to pressure the Racers, jumping out to a 43-37 lead with 12:25 remaining in the game. The Saluki charge was led by sophomore guard Kennard Davis Jr., who had 19 of his career-high 26 points up to this point in the game.
Murray State clawed back from the deficit, tying the game at 51. For the final 5:55, neither team’s lead grew larger than two points. Davis Jr. tied the game at 60 with 36 seconds remaining, leaving time for two more possessions in the game.
Murray State came out of the timeout and got the ball in Wood’s hands. He drove to the basket and missed the layup but SIU’s Jarrett Hensley couldn’t grab the rebound and the ball went out of bounds with 6.8 seconds left in the game.
The Racers threw the ball to senior guard Kylen Milton off the inbound and he immediately set his man up, drove toward the basket and drew a foul with 3.3 seconds remaining. He knocked down both free throws giving the Racers a 62-60 lead. All Murray State had to do was defend and not foul.
After an SIU timeout with two seconds remaining, redshirt freshman guard Drew Steffe got the ball to Hensley on the inbound. He shot a contested 3-pointer from right between the three-point line and the midcourt logo, missing the shot off the front of the rim. For the second time this season, Murray State beat SIU in Carbondale.
Wood led the Racers with 20 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field and also notched four assists to his statline. Senior guard Terence Harcum and senior forward Nick Ellington both scored 14 points each, with eight of Ellington’s points coming from the free throw line, where he went 8-for-10 on the day.
Murray State’s shooting percentages were poor, shooting 31% from the field and 22% from the three-point line. However, it was the Racers’ free throw shooting that carried them to the win. They only missed two free throws the entire game as they finished 92% from the charity stripe.
The Racers were solid defensively as well, holding SIU to only one three-point shot for the whole game. The Saluki’s were 1-for-12 from the three-point line, which is 8%.
With the win, Murray State goes to 14-14 on the season and 8-9 in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play. The Racers are in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference with Illinois State, Illinois Chicago and Evansville. The last three games will be important as the Racers jockey for the best seed they can get in the conference tournament.
The men’s basketball team has a tough task in their next game, as they travel to Peoria, Illinois, for a matchup with the Bradley Braves. The Braves currently sit third in the MVC standings. Tip off is at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
