The Murray State Racers hit an amazing 13-of-18 from beyond the 3-point line in a 76-63 win over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
Terrell Miller, Jr., and Jonathan Stark paced the Racers to their third-straight win with 28 and 23 points respectively as they combined to hit 11 of MSU’s threes at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The Racers improved their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 2-0 and evened their overall record at 8-8. JSU fell to 9-8 and 2-1.
Leading 38-35 at the half, MSU saw JSU get to a 53-49 score with 9:45 left. The Racers’ defense locked down and didn’t allow another JSU field goal for the next 5:15 and by then, MSU held a 64-54 lead with 4:30 left. A three from Miller with 1:37 left, put the Racers up by nine and they cruised from there.
The Racers’ 13-of-18 night from long range came out to .722 percent and it easily was their best 3-point percentage in 16 games this season.
The Racers also won the rebound battle 36-31 after they trailed 15-12 at half time. Miller grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded his fourth double-double of the season.
Bryce Jones tossed in 14 points on 2-of-3 from 3-point range and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Gee McGhee grabbed six rebounds in only 18 minutes on the floor.
Game Notes
Tonight marked the Racers’ first road win of the season in seven tries. MSU’s last road win was at Austin Peay on Feb. 20, 2016.
The Racers have won the last four meetings against JSU and 20-of-21 in the series that began when the Gamecocks joined the OVC in 2004. MSU is 9-1 all-time at Mathews Coliseum.
MSU has won three straight games since their last loss to Wright State (Dec. 22) at home.
Jonathan Stark was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and has hit at least one in all of MSU’s 16 games this season. Miller has hit a 3-pointer in 13-of-16 games this season.
The Racers night from the 3-point line is historic as it’s just the third time the team has shot better than 70 percent since 1998. The game is by far the Racers’ best on the road since 1998. The previous best was a pair of .647 games at EKU in 2010 and at JSU in 2005. In each case, MSU went 11-of-17 for .647 percent. MSU’s last 70-plus percent game was at home against Bethel in 2014 when they hit .733.
At JSU 01-05-17 76-63 W 13-18 .722
BETHEL (TN) 12-03-14 102-66 W 11-15 .733
UT MARTIN 01-29-11 92-75 W 13-18 .722
at Eastern Kentucky 02-27-10 88-74 W 11-17 .647
at Jacksonville State 12-19-05 91-72 W 11-17 .647
MSU hit eight 3-point baskets in the first half and five in the second half.
Stark had three steals tonight and has a run of seven straight games with at least one steal.
The Racers stay on the road Friday and travel to Cookeville for a Saturday game with the Tennessee State Golden Eagles. Tip time is 7:30 p.m. after the MSU women’s team plays TTU at 5:30 p.m. Both games can be seen on OVCDigitalNetwork.com and on Froggy 103.7 FM and GoRacers.com.
Dave Winder
Murray State Athletics – Assistant AD – Media Relations